2020 Japan Prize Laureates Announced Prof. Robert G. Gallager Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology USA No. 63 Feb. 2020 ARK Mori Building, East Wing 35th Floor, 1-12-32 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-6035, JAPAN Tel: +81-3-5545-0551 Fax: +81-3-5545-0554 www.japanprize.jp contributions to our lives. The award covers all fields of science and technology and takes into consideration the developments in science and technology. Every year, the foundation designates two fields for the award presentation. One award is given for each field as a general rule. Each laureate receives a certificate of merit and a prize medal. A cash prize of 50 million yen is also presented to each prize category. The creation of the Japan Prize was motivated by the Japanese government's desire to "express gratitude to international society by establishing a prestigious international award in the fields of science and technology". Supported by numerous donations, the Japan Prize was established in 1983 with a cabinet endorsement. The Japan Prize honors those who have made significant achievements that contribute to the peace and prosperity of mankind, based not only on contributions to the advancement of science and technology but also on social Dr. Svante Pääbo Professor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Sweden From general communication devices such as TVs, personal computers and mobile phones to cutting-edge researches utilizing big-data, such as particle physics and astronomy, digital information communication is one of the fundamental technologies that support today's society. However, when performing data communication, errors can occur due to external noise, and for many years, a lot of research was conducted on developing detection and correction schemes for such errors. Among them, LDPC codes (Low-Density Parity-Check Codes), invented by Prof. Robert G. Gallager, is an extremely reliable and practical scheme. Starting with its adoption in the fifth-generation mobile communication system (5G), LDPC codes are expected to support the coming generations of high-speed and large-capacity communications. Where did we humans come from? Elucidating “the origin and evolution of modern humans” is one of the biggest challenges in paleoanthropology. Traditionally, the evolution and classification of humans had been approached by analyzing the shape of excavated bone and teeth fossils. However, from the mid-1980s, Dr. Svante Pääbo adopted the “genetic approach” , which involves extracting and analyzing DNA, and made series of discoveries that have enabled us to understand modern human evolution at much greater depth. In particular, the DNA analysis of Neanderthals revealed that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, the DNA from a fossilized bone fragment excavated from the Denisova cave in Russia revealed the existence of a previously unknown species of humans called the Denisovans. By analyzing the DNA of ancient humans, Dr. Pääbo has shed new light on the fundamental question of where modern humans came from. Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropology through decoding ancient human genome sequences Eligible Field: “Life Science” Eligible Field: “Electronics, Information, Communication” Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
Transcript
2020 Japan Prize Laureates Announced
Eligible Fields for the 2021 Japan PrizeNomination and Selection Process
Members of the 2020 Japan Prize Selection Committee
Makoto Asashima Research Professor, Academic Advisor, Teikyo UniversityAcademic Advisor, Japan Society for the Promotion of ScienceProfessor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo
Selection Subcommittee for the “Life Science” field
Selection Subcommittee for the “Electronics, Information, Communication” field
■ Every November, the Field Selection Committee of The Japan Prize Foundation designates and announces two fields in which the Japan Prize will be awarded two years hence. At the same time, the Foundation calls for over 16,000 nominators, strictly comprised of prominent scientists and researchers from around the world invited by the Foundation, to nominate the candidates through the web by Web System. The deadline for nominations is the end of January of the following year.
■ For each field, a Selection Subcommittee conducts a rigorous evaluation of the candidates’ academic achievements. The conclusions are then forwarded to the Selection Committee, which conducts evaluations of candidates’ achievements from a wider perspective, including contributions to the progress of science and technology, and significant advancement towards the cause of world peace and prosperity, and finally the selected candidates are recommended for the Prize.
■ The recommendations are then sent to the Foundation’s Board of Directors, which makes the final decision on the winners.
■ The nomination and selection process takes almost two years from the time that the fields are decided. Every January or February, the winners of that year’s Japan Prize are announced. The Presentation Ceremony is held in April in Tokyo.
The eligible fields for the Japan Prize (2021 to 2023) have been decided for the two research areas, respectively.These fields rotate every year in a three year cycle.Every year the Fields Selection Committee announces the eligible fields for the next three years.
Resources, Energy, Environment, Social Infrastructure
Background and Rationale: The field of medical science and medicinal science has been undergoing remarkable progress in recent years. Genomic medicine, regenerative medicine
and medical robotics have been making rapid progress. Also, revolutionary medicines such as cancer immunotherapy drugs and antiviral agents are being developed one after another.
Nonetheless, the need for new measures against emerging infectious diseases and diseases associated with aging and changes in lifestyle, as well as the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens and cancers, have all come to the fore as major global issues.
Today's medical science and medicinal science are expected to contribute even more to people’ s health and well-being. This is being sought through thecreation and dissemination of new medical care that integrates other disciplines such as engineering and informatics, the development and production of new drugs, and new drug delivery systems.
The 2020Japan PrizePresentationCeremony
Announcethe Laureatesof the 2020Japan Prize
November End January, 2019 November February, 2020 April
Selection Subcommitteefor Life Science
Selection Subcommitteefor Electronics, Information, Communication
Board ofDirectors
Determinethe fields eligiblefor the 2020Japan Prize
Yoshinao MishimaProfessor Emeritus and Former PresidentTokyo Institute of Technology
Yasuo OkabeProfessorAcademic Center for Computing and Media StudiesKyoto University
Yoshiharu IshikawaProfessorGraduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University Shigeaki Zaima
ProfessorGraduate School of Science and TechnologyMeijo University
Michihiko MinohExecutive DirectorRIKEN
Junken AokiProfessorGraduate School of Pharmaceutical SciencesTohoku University
Tomoko M. NakanishiPresident, Hoshi UniversityProfessor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life SciencesThe University of TokyoCommissioner, Japan Atomic Energy Commission
Sumio OhtsukiProfessorFaculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University
Hiroo FukudaExecutive Vice PresidentThe University of Tokyo
Akinori KimuraExecutive Senior Vice PresidentTokyo Medical and Dental University
Atsuko SeharaProfessor EmeritusKyoto University
Masahide TakahashiTrustee and Vice PresidentNagoya University
Toichi TakenakaChairmanJapan Health Sciences Foundation
Yasushi OkamuraProfessorGraduate School of MedicineOsaka University
Shigeo OkabeProfessorGraduate School of MedicineThe University of Tokyo
Yoshinori FujiyoshiDistinguished ProfessorTMDU Advanced Research InstituteTokyo Medical and Dental University
Yoshihiro HayashiPresident/Director GeneralNational Museum of Nature and Science
Hiroto Ishida DirectorThe Japan Prize Foundation
Kazunori KataokaProfessor, The University of TokyoVice President, Kawasaki Institute of Industrial PromotionDirector-General, Innovation Center of NanoMedicine
Yoichiro MatsumotoPresidentTokyo University of Science
Background and Rationale: Today's lifestyle is supported by various infrastructure, created from the systematization of technologies. The dissemination and advancement of
infrastructure technologies that support our society are crucial for realizing the goal of "eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions", which has been defined by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the "greatest global challenge".
Meanwhile, the effects of climate change are becoming more apparent, and there is a growing awareness that not only mitigation measures, but also adaptation measures are required. Amid mounting concerns of greater disasters in the future, the creation of a resilient society is also an urgent issue.
Thus, we are in serious need of further innovation in such areas as development and recycling technologies for resources including urban mines, water usage/treatment systems, energy management, the prediction of environmental changes and its countermeasures, as well as in social infrastructure technologies relevant to urban and transportation systems.
Eligible Achievements :The 2021 Japan Prize in the field of "Medical Science, Medicinal Science" is awarded to an individual(s) who has achieved scientific and technological
breakthroughs, such as new discoveries or the development of innovative technologies on the "prevention", "diagnosis", "treatment" or "prognosis" of diseases, thereby contributing towards the health and well-being of humankind.
Michiharu NakamuraCounselor to the President, Japan Science and Technology AgencyDirector, The Japan Prize Foundation
Kazuhito HashimotoPresidentNational Institute for Materials Science
Kohei MiyazonoProfessorDepartment of Molecular PathologyGraduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo
Yozo FujinoDistinguished ProfessorInstitute of Advanced SciencesYokohama National University
Mariko HasegawaPresidentSOKENDAI(The Graduate University for Advanced Studies)
Masaru KitsuregawaDirector General, National Institute of InformaticsProfessor, Institute of Industrial ScienceThe University of Tokyo
Eiichi NakamuraEndowed ProfessorOffice of the President and Department of Chemistry The University of Tokyo
Masayuki YamamotoProfessor Emeritus, The University of TokyoProfessor Emeritus, National Institute for Basic Biology
Kazuo KyumaPresidentNational Agriculture and Food Research Organization
Ken FuruyaProfessor, Graduate School of EngineeringSoka UniversityProfessor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo
Yuichi SugiyamaHeadSugiyama Laboratory, RIKEN Baton Zone Program
Fields Selection Committee for the 2021 Japan Prize
Schedule (2021-2023)
Selection Committee
Closing of the nominations
Invite thenominations
Considerthe fields eligiblefor the 2020Japan Prize
Electronics, Information, Communication
Life Science
Eligible Achievements:The 2021 Japan Prize in the field of "Resources, Energy, Environment, Social Infrastructure" is awarded to an individual(s) who has achieved
breakthroughs in the creation, innovation or dissemination of science and technology, thereby contributing significantly to the sustainable development of human society.
Shojiro NishioPresidentOsaka University
Masayuki MatsushitaDirectorThe Japan Prize Foundation
Tadatsugu TaniguchiProfessor Emeritus, Advisor to the Office of PresidentThe University of Tokyo
Naonori UedaDeputy DirectorRIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project
Hiroki ArimuraProfessorGraduate School of Information Science and TechnologyHokkaido University
Hiroyuki MorikawaProfessorGraduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
Makoto AndoSenior Executive DirectorNational Institute of Technology
Takao OnoyeExecutive Vice PresidentOsaka University
Michiko InoueProfessorGraduate School of Science and TechnologyNara Institute of Science and Technology
(alphabetical order, titles as of November, 2019)
(alphabetical order, titles as of February, 2020)
Medical Science, Medicinal Science
Area of Physics, Chemistry, Informatics, Engineering
Year Eligible Fields
Area of Life Science, Agriculture, Medicine
Medical Science, Medicinal ScienceBiological Production, Ecology/ EnvironmentLife Science
202120222023
202120222023
Year Eligible Fields
Area of Physics, Chemistry,
Informatics, Engineering
Area ofLife Science, Agriculture,
Medicine
Members Chairman
Vice Chairman
Shojiro NishioPresidentOsaka University
Yoshinori FujiyoshiDistinguished ProfessorTMDU Advanced Research InstituteTokyo Medical and Dental University
Shigeo KoyasuExecutive DirectorRIKEN
Hiroto YasuuraExecutive Vice PresidentKyushu University
Chairman
Deputy Chairman
Chairman
Deputy Chairman
Members
Members
Members Chairman
Vice Chairman
Resources, Energy, Environment, Social InfrastructureMaterials, ProductionElectronics, Information, Communication
July - October, 2018
Prof. Robert G. Gallager Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
USA
No. 63 Feb. 2020ARK Mori Building, East Wing 35th Floor, 1-12-32Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-6035, JAPANTel: +81-3-5545-0551 Fax: +81-3-5545-0554www.japanprize.jp
contributions to our lives.The award covers all fields of science and technology and takes into
consideration the developments in science and technology. Every year, the foundation designates two fields for the award presentation.
One award is given for each field as a general rule. Each laureate receives a certificate of merit and a prize medal. A cash prize of 50 million yen is also presented to each prize category.
The creation of the Japan Prize was motivated by the Japanese government's desire to "express gratitude to international society by establishing a prestigious international award in the fields of science and technology". Supported by numerous donations, the Japan Prize was established in 1983 with a cabinet endorsement.
The Japan Prize honors those who have made significant achievements that contribute to the peace and prosperity of mankind, based not only on contributions to the advancement of science and technology but also on social
Dr. Svante PääboProfessor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Sweden
From general communication devices such as TVs, personal computers and mobile phones to cutting-edge researches utilizing big-data, such as particle physics and astronomy, digital information communication is one of the fundamental technologies that support today's society. However, when performing data communication, errors can occur due to external noise, and for many years, a lot of research was conducted on developing detection and correction schemes for such errors.
Among them, LDPC codes (Low-Density Parity-Check Codes), invented by Prof. Robert G. Gallager, is an extremely reliable and practical scheme.
Starting with its adoption in the fifth-generation mobile communication system (5G), LDPC codes are expected to support the coming generations of high-speed and large-capacity communications.
Where did we humans come from?Elucidating “the origin and evolution of modern humans” is
one of the biggest challenges in paleoanthropology. Traditionally, the evolution and classification of humans had been approached by analyzing the shape of excavated bone and teeth fossils. However, from the mid-1980s, Dr. Svante Pääbo adopted the “genetic approach” , which involves extracting and analyzing DNA, and made series of discoveries that have enabled us to understand modern human evolution at much greater depth.
In particular, the DNA analysis of Neanderthals revealed that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, the DNA from a fossilized bone fragment excavated from the Denisova cave in Russia revealed the existence of a previously unknown species of humans called the Denisovans.
By analyzing the DNA of ancient humans, Dr. Pääbo has shed new light on the fundamental question of where modern humans came from.
Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropologythrough decoding ancient human genome sequences
Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Neanderthals are a species of archaic humans that once existed. They left Africa around 500,000 years ago and spread across Europe and the Middle East, but became extinct about 40,000 years ago. For this reason, it was long thought that Neanderthals were unrelated to modern humans. However, when Dr. Pääbo analyzed the DNA of excavated Neanderthal bones, he discovered that modern humans had in fact inherited Neanderthal DNA.
Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
The difficulty of studying ancient DNA is that DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time, therefore, it is difficult to obtain enough quantity required for proper analysis. In order to increase the small number of DNA fragments, Dr. Pääbo employed a newly developed DNA amplification method called the "Polymerase chain reaction" (PCR). There was, however, a limitation to this method. Modern DNA contaminated by airborne dust or human sweat could be mistakenly be amplified if the sequence was similar to ancient human DNA. Because the handling of ancient DNA requires great care, Dr. Pääbo devised new research methods, including a new method of DNA extraction and the use of a cleanroom.
In 1997, a portion of Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA was first sequenced, followed by the entire mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are a type of organelle that has DNA different from that of the nucleus.
Mitochondrial DNA is only 16,000 base pairs long and can easily be obtained in large quantities because a single cell alone contains several thousand of them. The sequence was able to be determined using the PCR method and the DNA analysis technology that was available at the time.
When the sequenced mitochondrial DNA was compared with that of modern humans, no commonalities were found, thus, proving the theory that Neanderthals were not the direct ancestors of modern humans as some had suggested.
Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Dr. Pääbo hypothesized that analysis of mitochondrial DNA alone was not enough to unravel the mysteries of modern human evolution. Beginning in the 2000s, a next-generation sequencer capable of simulta-neously sequencing large quantities of DNA became available. In 2010, it was used to sequence the entire Neanderthal nuclear DNA for the first time in the world. He analyzed large quantities of DNA fragments,
mapped them on a modern human reference sequence, and reconstructed the nuclear DNA sequence consisting of 3 billion base pairs.
The analysis of Neanderthal nuclear DNA showed that 1 to 4% of the total DNA of modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, had Neanderthal origins. It was thus proven that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, Dr. Pääbo sequenced the nuclear DNA from a bone fragment of an unknown group of hominins, excavated from the Denisova Cave in Russia, and named them "Denisovans".
Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
The fact that Neanderthal DNA is present in modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, illustrates a scenario of modern human migration in which "the ancestors of modern humans who left Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago and spread around the world".
In this manner, Dr. Pääbo's DNA analysis using ancient bones has revolutionized the paleoanthropological research of exploring "the origin of modern humans". His research methods and achievements have also significantly impacted all disciplines related to the study of modern human species, including anthropology, archeology, and history, thereby contributing tremendously to the advancement of these disciplines.
Dr. Pääbo, who has contributed significantly to the field of paleoan-thropology, is currently a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. There, he continues to lead many projects on ancient human genomes, expand the horizons of paleoanthropologi-cal genomic research, and nurture the next generation of researchers.
Achievement : Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropology through decoding ancient human genome sequences
Dr. Svante Pääbo (Sweden)Born: April 20, 1955 (Age: 64)Professor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
“Life Science” field
There exists a relation where the remainder of e×d divided by (p-1)×(q-1) is 1, so d cannot be computed without knowing the prime numbers p and q.
Prime numbers n and q are extremely large. Even a super computer running for 10 thousand years would not be able to compute the prime factorization of n.
Figure 1 The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Interbred
Neanderthals
Denisovans
Modern humans that came out of Africa
Spread to Europe and Asia
The Middle East
The common ancestor in Africa
Modern humans that were left in Africa
40,000 years ago
60,000 years ago
400,000 years ago
500,000 years ago
Became extinct
Became extinct
Figure 4 Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
Denisovan
The ancestors of modern humans who came out of Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago.
After interbreeding, their descendants spread throughout the world. Modern humans in East Asia and Australia also carry the Neanderthal DNA.
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, the 3 billion base pairs long nuclear DNA, is the equivalent to a collection of books. A large number of DNA fragments were analyzed and fitted together using next-generation sequencers to restore the reconstruct book collection.
Figure 3 Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Nucleus
Nuclear DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Simultaneous analysis and splicing of large amounts of DNA fragments.
Determining the approximately 3 billion nucleotide sequences of nuclear DNA
Next-generation sequencer
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, a mitochondrial DNA, composed of approximately 16,000 base pairs, is a single-page document. The various DNA fragments were amplified using PCR, analyzed and fitted together, and in 1997, the hyper-vari-able region of the mitochondrial DNA was sequenced.
Figure 2 Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
Mitochondria
Nucleus
PCR machine
Mitochondrial DNA, part of the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Amplification of the DNA fragments that need to be read
Determining mitochondrial DNA sequences by splicing sequences of DNA fragments
Achievement : Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
Prof. Robert G. Gallager (USA)Born: May 29, 1931 (Age: 88)Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Error correction schemes in digital information communication
To realize remote surgeries and autonomous driving, it is indispens-able to use low-latency error-free data transmission. In digital data transmission, however, errors may occur in both wired and wireless communications due to noises caused by problems in communication equipment or radio noise interference. Since most of these noises cannot be removed, it is necessary to devise a framework to detect and correct these errors.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to send duplicate data. If the data “01” is repeated three times and sent as “01 01 01”, even if an error occurs and becomes “11 01 01” at the receiving end, the correct data “01” can be recovered by the majority rule. The process of adding extra data in such circumstances is called “coding”, and the process of correcting errors and recovering the original data is called “decoding”.
Principle and features of LDPC codes
This approach is, however, very wasteful of data and not very reliable. A better approach, familiar to communication engineers in the 1950's, was to arrange a block of data into rows and columns. A parity check digit is added to each row and to each column, as illustrat-ed in Fig. 2. The parity check digit is 1 if the number of ones in that
“Electronics, Information, Communication” Field row or column is odd and is 0 otherwise. Then if an error occurs in transmission in a particular row and column, the check digit for that column and row would indicate the location of the error, and it could be corrected.
Much research in the 1950's was devoted to improving this approach, including the Hamming codes, the BCH codes, the RS codes, and LDPC codes. All these schemes replace the rows and columns of data above with an arbitrary collection of subsets of data. A parity check is then appended to each subset and errors are corrected according to the parity check digits which have the wrong parity after transmission.
In the LDPC codes invented by Prof. Gallager, the overall block of data was chosen to be very large, but each of the above subsets were chosen to be quite small, a choice made to simplify the implementation of error correction. He showed that these subsets could be kept at a fixed small size while increasing the length of the overall block so as to approach channel capacity with highly reliable transmission.
LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
LDPC codes were proposed by Prof. Gallager during the 1960s. However, because processing capability of computers were limited at that time, his ideas were neglected for the next 30 years.
From the 1990s, computer processing capability rapidly enhanced, and research into its practical implementation became active. In 1998, it was proven to be the most theoretically superior scheme, and its adoption into the large-capacity information communication systems advanced drastically.
Since the 2000s, LDPC codes have been rapidly adopted in digital com-munication systems and digital storage systems. These include digital TV satellite broadcasting, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, WiMAX high-speed data com-munication, and the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), as well as hard disks and solid-state drives. It has become an extremely important basic technology that supports our modern digital society.
Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Currently, there are no other practical codes that can outperform LDPC codes. As computer processing capability continues to rapidly improve in the future, the application of LDPC codes is expected to further expand in scope.
Super Smart Society (Society 5.0), which is envisioned to be the future of our society, will require the cyberspace and the real world to be highly integrated. LDPC codes are expected to contribute significantly to this goal by playing an essential and fundamental role in solving the various challenges of information communication, such as demands for higher speeds, capacity, and reliability, and lower power consumption.
Figure 1 Error correction schemes in digital information communication
10
10 11
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
Errors in digital data communication are inevitable due to noise
11
Errors can be detected and corrected by devising the transmitting data
10
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
10
Figure 2 A simple example of using parity checks to correct errors
The dramatic increase in wireless communication speed and the advancement of communication equipment
1001,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
Data bandwidth（kbps）
（Year）202020102000199019801960RS codes/BCH codes
Turbo codes
LDPC codesThe invention of LDPC
codes
10Voice
Packet communication
E-mail, Still Picture (Camera), Browser, Video
High-definition video5G
4G
3G
2G1G
Transmitting data
Received data
Received data
Transmitting data DecodingCoding 11 10 1010 10 10
(1) Use a large overall block length with randomly chosen groups in place of horizontal and vertical groups
(2) Achieve simple decoding by using groups of small size (low density)If there is an error in the received
data, the check symbols will not match the data.The fifth "1" is incorrect because the check symbols of groups 2 and 5 do not match its data.
A check symbol is attached to each of the vertical and horizontal groups. If the count of "1"s in a group is an even number, the check symbol is set to 0, and if an odd number, it is set to "1".
Create vertical and horizontal groups by separating the data into rows and columns
Correcting the errors and decoding restores the original data.
LDPC codes is a key technology that supports high speed, high capacity, high reliable, and low power data communication
Data processing and analysis of various types of sensor data
Fusion of various data in societyPhysical space
Cyberspace
Big-dataAnalyze Artificial
IntelligenceAI
Sensor information from the physical space is sent to cyberspace
Autonomous driving cars
AI recommendation
to humans
Automated robot operation
at factories
Based on analysis results, cyberspace feedbacks value added information to the physical space
Figure 4 Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Figure 3 LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
“ ”
The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Neanderthals are a species of archaic humans that once existed. They left Africa around 500,000 years ago and spread across Europe and the Middle East, but became extinct about 40,000 years ago. For this reason, it was long thought that Neanderthals were unrelated to modern humans. However, when Dr. Pääbo analyzed the DNA of excavated Neanderthal bones, he discovered that modern humans had in fact inherited Neanderthal DNA.
Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
The difficulty of studying ancient DNA is that DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time, therefore, it is difficult to obtain enough quantity required for proper analysis. In order to increase the small number of DNA fragments, Dr. Pääbo employed a newly developed DNA amplification method called the "Polymerase chain reaction" (PCR). There was, however, a limitation to this method. Modern DNA contaminated by airborne dust or human sweat could be mistakenly be amplified if the sequence was similar to ancient human DNA. Because the handling of ancient DNA requires great care, Dr. Pääbo devised new research methods, including a new method of DNA extraction and the use of a cleanroom.
In 1997, a portion of Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA was first sequenced, followed by the entire mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are a type of organelle that has DNA different from that of the nucleus.
Mitochondrial DNA is only 16,000 base pairs long and can easily be obtained in large quantities because a single cell alone contains several thousand of them. The sequence was able to be determined using the PCR method and the DNA analysis technology that was available at the time.
When the sequenced mitochondrial DNA was compared with that of modern humans, no commonalities were found, thus, proving the theory that Neanderthals were not the direct ancestors of modern humans as some had suggested.
Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Dr. Pääbo hypothesized that analysis of mitochondrial DNA alone was not enough to unravel the mysteries of modern human evolution. Beginning in the 2000s, a next-generation sequencer capable of simulta-neously sequencing large quantities of DNA became available. In 2010, it was used to sequence the entire Neanderthal nuclear DNA for the first time in the world. He analyzed large quantities of DNA fragments,
mapped them on a modern human reference sequence, and reconstructed the nuclear DNA sequence consisting of 3 billion base pairs.
The analysis of Neanderthal nuclear DNA showed that 1 to 4% of the total DNA of modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, had Neanderthal origins. It was thus proven that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, Dr. Pääbo sequenced the nuclear DNA from a bone fragment of an unknown group of hominins, excavated from the Denisova Cave in Russia, and named them "Denisovans".
Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
The fact that Neanderthal DNA is present in modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, illustrates a scenario of modern human migration in which "the ancestors of modern humans who left Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago and spread around the world".
In this manner, Dr. Pääbo's DNA analysis using ancient bones has revolutionized the paleoanthropological research of exploring "the origin of modern humans". His research methods and achievements have also significantly impacted all disciplines related to the study of modern human species, including anthropology, archeology, and history, thereby contributing tremendously to the advancement of these disciplines.
Dr. Pääbo, who has contributed significantly to the field of paleoan-thropology, is currently a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. There, he continues to lead many projects on ancient human genomes, expand the horizons of paleoanthropologi-cal genomic research, and nurture the next generation of researchers.
Achievement : Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropology through decoding ancient human genome sequences
Dr. Svante Pääbo (Sweden)Born: April 20, 1955 (Age: 64)Professor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
“Life Science” field
There exists a relation where the remainder of e×d divided by (p-1)×(q-1) is 1, so d cannot be computed without knowing the prime numbers p and q.
Prime numbers n and q are extremely large. Even a super computer running for 10 thousand years would not be able to compute the prime factorization of n.
Figure 1 The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Interbred
Neanderthals
Denisovans
Modern humans that came out of Africa
Spread to Europe and Asia
The Middle East
The common ancestor in Africa
Modern humans that were left in Africa
40,000 years ago
60,000 years ago
400,000 years ago
500,000 years ago
Became extinct
Became extinct
Figure 4 Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
Denisovan
The ancestors of modern humans who came out of Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago.
After interbreeding, their descendants spread throughout the world. Modern humans in East Asia and Australia also carry the Neanderthal DNA.
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, the 3 billion base pairs long nuclear DNA, is the equivalent to a collection of books. A large number of DNA fragments were analyzed and fitted together using next-generation sequencers to restore the reconstruct book collection.
Figure 3 Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Nucleus
Nuclear DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Simultaneous analysis and splicing of large amounts of DNA fragments.
Determining the approximately 3 billion nucleotide sequences of nuclear DNA
Next-generation sequencer
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, a mitochondrial DNA, composed of approximately 16,000 base pairs, is a single-page document. The various DNA fragments were amplified using PCR, analyzed and fitted together, and in 1997, the hyper-vari-able region of the mitochondrial DNA was sequenced.
Figure 2 Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
Mitochondria
Nucleus
PCR machine
Mitochondrial DNA, part of the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Amplification of the DNA fragments that need to be read
Determining mitochondrial DNA sequences by splicing sequences of DNA fragments
Achievement : Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
Prof. Robert G. Gallager (USA)Born: May 29, 1931 (Age: 88)Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Error correction schemes in digital information communication
To realize remote surgeries and autonomous driving, it is indispens-able to use low-latency error-free data transmission. In digital data transmission, however, errors may occur in both wired and wireless communications due to noises caused by problems in communication equipment or radio noise interference. Since most of these noises cannot be removed, it is necessary to devise a framework to detect and correct these errors.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to send duplicate data. If the data “01” is repeated three times and sent as “01 01 01”, even if an error occurs and becomes “11 01 01” at the receiving end, the correct data “01” can be recovered by the majority rule. The process of adding extra data in such circumstances is called “coding”, and the process of correcting errors and recovering the original data is called “decoding”.
Principle and features of LDPC codes
This approach is, however, very wasteful of data and not very reliable. A better approach, familiar to communication engineers in the 1950's, was to arrange a block of data into rows and columns. A parity check digit is added to each row and to each column, as illustrat-ed in Fig. 2. The parity check digit is 1 if the number of ones in that
“Electronics, Information, Communication” Field row or column is odd and is 0 otherwise. Then if an error occurs in transmission in a particular row and column, the check digit for that column and row would indicate the location of the error, and it could be corrected.
Much research in the 1950's was devoted to improving this approach, including the Hamming codes, the BCH codes, the RS codes, and LDPC codes. All these schemes replace the rows and columns of data above with an arbitrary collection of subsets of data. A parity check is then appended to each subset and errors are corrected according to the parity check digits which have the wrong parity after transmission.
In the LDPC codes invented by Prof. Gallager, the overall block of data was chosen to be very large, but each of the above subsets were chosen to be quite small, a choice made to simplify the implementation of error correction. He showed that these subsets could be kept at a fixed small size while increasing the length of the overall block so as to approach channel capacity with highly reliable transmission.
LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
LDPC codes were proposed by Prof. Gallager during the 1960s. However, because processing capability of computers were limited at that time, his ideas were neglected for the next 30 years.
From the 1990s, computer processing capability rapidly enhanced, and research into its practical implementation became active. In 1998, it was proven to be the most theoretically superior scheme, and its adoption into the large-capacity information communication systems advanced drastically.
Since the 2000s, LDPC codes have been rapidly adopted in digital com-munication systems and digital storage systems. These include digital TV satellite broadcasting, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, WiMAX high-speed data com-munication, and the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), as well as hard disks and solid-state drives. It has become an extremely important basic technology that supports our modern digital society.
Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Currently, there are no other practical codes that can outperform LDPC codes. As computer processing capability continues to rapidly improve in the future, the application of LDPC codes is expected to further expand in scope.
Super Smart Society (Society 5.0), which is envisioned to be the future of our society, will require the cyberspace and the real world to be highly integrated. LDPC codes are expected to contribute significantly to this goal by playing an essential and fundamental role in solving the various challenges of information communication, such as demands for higher speeds, capacity, and reliability, and lower power consumption.
Figure 1 Error correction schemes in digital information communication
10
10 11
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
Errors in digital data communication are inevitable due to noise
11
Errors can be detected and corrected by devising the transmitting data
10
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
10
Figure 2 A simple example of using parity checks to correct errors
The dramatic increase in wireless communication speed and the advancement of communication equipment
1001,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
Data bandwidth（kbps）
（Year）202020102000199019801960RS codes/BCH codes
Turbo codes
LDPC codesThe invention of LDPC
codes
10Voice
Packet communication
E-mail, Still Picture (Camera), Browser, Video
High-definition video5G
4G
3G
2G1G
Transmitting data
Received data
Received data
Transmitting data DecodingCoding 11 10 1010 10 10
(1) Use a large overall block length with randomly chosen groups in place of horizontal and vertical groups
(2) Achieve simple decoding by using groups of small size (low density)If there is an error in the received
data, the check symbols will not match the data.The fifth "1" is incorrect because the check symbols of groups 2 and 5 do not match its data.
A check symbol is attached to each of the vertical and horizontal groups. If the count of "1"s in a group is an even number, the check symbol is set to 0, and if an odd number, it is set to "1".
Create vertical and horizontal groups by separating the data into rows and columns
Correcting the errors and decoding restores the original data.
LDPC codes is a key technology that supports high speed, high capacity, high reliable, and low power data communication
Data processing and analysis of various types of sensor data
Fusion of various data in societyPhysical space
Cyberspace
Big-dataAnalyze Artificial
IntelligenceAI
Sensor information from the physical space is sent to cyberspace
Autonomous driving cars
AI recommendation
to humans
Automated robot operation
at factories
Based on analysis results, cyberspace feedbacks value added information to the physical space
Figure 4 Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Figure 3 LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
“ ”
The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Neanderthals are a species of archaic humans that once existed. They left Africa around 500,000 years ago and spread across Europe and the Middle East, but became extinct about 40,000 years ago. For this reason, it was long thought that Neanderthals were unrelated to modern humans. However, when Dr. Pääbo analyzed the DNA of excavated Neanderthal bones, he discovered that modern humans had in fact inherited Neanderthal DNA.
Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
The difficulty of studying ancient DNA is that DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time, therefore, it is difficult to obtain enough quantity required for proper analysis. In order to increase the small number of DNA fragments, Dr. Pääbo employed a newly developed DNA amplification method called the "Polymerase chain reaction" (PCR). There was, however, a limitation to this method. Modern DNA contaminated by airborne dust or human sweat could be mistakenly be amplified if the sequence was similar to ancient human DNA. Because the handling of ancient DNA requires great care, Dr. Pääbo devised new research methods, including a new method of DNA extraction and the use of a cleanroom.
In 1997, a portion of Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA was first sequenced, followed by the entire mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are a type of organelle that has DNA different from that of the nucleus.
Mitochondrial DNA is only 16,000 base pairs long and can easily be obtained in large quantities because a single cell alone contains several thousand of them. The sequence was able to be determined using the PCR method and the DNA analysis technology that was available at the time.
When the sequenced mitochondrial DNA was compared with that of modern humans, no commonalities were found, thus, proving the theory that Neanderthals were not the direct ancestors of modern humans as some had suggested.
Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Dr. Pääbo hypothesized that analysis of mitochondrial DNA alone was not enough to unravel the mysteries of modern human evolution. Beginning in the 2000s, a next-generation sequencer capable of simulta-neously sequencing large quantities of DNA became available. In 2010, it was used to sequence the entire Neanderthal nuclear DNA for the first time in the world. He analyzed large quantities of DNA fragments,
mapped them on a modern human reference sequence, and reconstructed the nuclear DNA sequence consisting of 3 billion base pairs.
The analysis of Neanderthal nuclear DNA showed that 1 to 4% of the total DNA of modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, had Neanderthal origins. It was thus proven that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, Dr. Pääbo sequenced the nuclear DNA from a bone fragment of an unknown group of hominins, excavated from the Denisova Cave in Russia, and named them "Denisovans".
Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
The fact that Neanderthal DNA is present in modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, illustrates a scenario of modern human migration in which "the ancestors of modern humans who left Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago and spread around the world".
In this manner, Dr. Pääbo's DNA analysis using ancient bones has revolutionized the paleoanthropological research of exploring "the origin of modern humans". His research methods and achievements have also significantly impacted all disciplines related to the study of modern human species, including anthropology, archeology, and history, thereby contributing tremendously to the advancement of these disciplines.
Dr. Pääbo, who has contributed significantly to the field of paleoan-thropology, is currently a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. There, he continues to lead many projects on ancient human genomes, expand the horizons of paleoanthropologi-cal genomic research, and nurture the next generation of researchers.
Achievement : Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropology through decoding ancient human genome sequences
Dr. Svante Pääbo (Sweden)Born: April 20, 1955 (Age: 64)Professor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
“Life Science” field
There exists a relation where the remainder of e×d divided by (p-1)×(q-1) is 1, so d cannot be computed without knowing the prime numbers p and q.
Prime numbers n and q are extremely large. Even a super computer running for 10 thousand years would not be able to compute the prime factorization of n.
Figure 1 The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Interbred
Neanderthals
Denisovans
Modern humans that came out of Africa
Spread to Europe and Asia
The Middle East
The common ancestor in Africa
Modern humans that were left in Africa
40,000 years ago
60,000 years ago
400,000 years ago
500,000 years ago
Became extinct
Became extinct
Figure 4 Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
Denisovan
The ancestors of modern humans who came out of Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago.
After interbreeding, their descendants spread throughout the world. Modern humans in East Asia and Australia also carry the Neanderthal DNA.
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, the 3 billion base pairs long nuclear DNA, is the equivalent to a collection of books. A large number of DNA fragments were analyzed and fitted together using next-generation sequencers to restore the reconstruct book collection.
Figure 3 Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Nucleus
Nuclear DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Simultaneous analysis and splicing of large amounts of DNA fragments.
Determining the approximately 3 billion nucleotide sequences of nuclear DNA
Next-generation sequencer
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, a mitochondrial DNA, composed of approximately 16,000 base pairs, is a single-page document. The various DNA fragments were amplified using PCR, analyzed and fitted together, and in 1997, the hyper-vari-able region of the mitochondrial DNA was sequenced.
Figure 2 Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
Mitochondria
Nucleus
PCR machine
Mitochondrial DNA, part of the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Amplification of the DNA fragments that need to be read
Determining mitochondrial DNA sequences by splicing sequences of DNA fragments
Achievement : Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
Prof. Robert G. Gallager (USA)Born: May 29, 1931 (Age: 88)Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Error correction schemes in digital information communication
To realize remote surgeries and autonomous driving, it is indispens-able to use low-latency error-free data transmission. In digital data transmission, however, errors may occur in both wired and wireless communications due to noises caused by problems in communication equipment or radio noise interference. Since most of these noises cannot be removed, it is necessary to devise a framework to detect and correct these errors.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to send duplicate data. If the data “01” is repeated three times and sent as “01 01 01”, even if an error occurs and becomes “11 01 01” at the receiving end, the correct data “01” can be recovered by the majority rule. The process of adding extra data in such circumstances is called “coding”, and the process of correcting errors and recovering the original data is called “decoding”.
Principle and features of LDPC codes
This approach is, however, very wasteful of data and not very reliable. A better approach, familiar to communication engineers in the 1950's, was to arrange a block of data into rows and columns. A parity check digit is added to each row and to each column, as illustrat-ed in Fig. 2. The parity check digit is 1 if the number of ones in that
“Electronics, Information, Communication” Field row or column is odd and is 0 otherwise. Then if an error occurs in transmission in a particular row and column, the check digit for that column and row would indicate the location of the error, and it could be corrected.
Much research in the 1950's was devoted to improving this approach, including the Hamming codes, the BCH codes, the RS codes, and LDPC codes. All these schemes replace the rows and columns of data above with an arbitrary collection of subsets of data. A parity check is then appended to each subset and errors are corrected according to the parity check digits which have the wrong parity after transmission.
In the LDPC codes invented by Prof. Gallager, the overall block of data was chosen to be very large, but each of the above subsets were chosen to be quite small, a choice made to simplify the implementation of error correction. He showed that these subsets could be kept at a fixed small size while increasing the length of the overall block so as to approach channel capacity with highly reliable transmission.
LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
LDPC codes were proposed by Prof. Gallager during the 1960s. However, because processing capability of computers were limited at that time, his ideas were neglected for the next 30 years.
From the 1990s, computer processing capability rapidly enhanced, and research into its practical implementation became active. In 1998, it was proven to be the most theoretically superior scheme, and its adoption into the large-capacity information communication systems advanced drastically.
Since the 2000s, LDPC codes have been rapidly adopted in digital com-munication systems and digital storage systems. These include digital TV satellite broadcasting, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, WiMAX high-speed data com-munication, and the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), as well as hard disks and solid-state drives. It has become an extremely important basic technology that supports our modern digital society.
Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Currently, there are no other practical codes that can outperform LDPC codes. As computer processing capability continues to rapidly improve in the future, the application of LDPC codes is expected to further expand in scope.
Super Smart Society (Society 5.0), which is envisioned to be the future of our society, will require the cyberspace and the real world to be highly integrated. LDPC codes are expected to contribute significantly to this goal by playing an essential and fundamental role in solving the various challenges of information communication, such as demands for higher speeds, capacity, and reliability, and lower power consumption.
Figure 1 Error correction schemes in digital information communication
10
10 11
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
Errors in digital data communication are inevitable due to noise
11
Errors can be detected and corrected by devising the transmitting data
10
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
10
Figure 2 A simple example of using parity checks to correct errors
The dramatic increase in wireless communication speed and the advancement of communication equipment
1001,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
Data bandwidth（kbps）
（Year）202020102000199019801960RS codes/BCH codes
Turbo codes
LDPC codesThe invention of LDPC
codes
10Voice
Packet communication
E-mail, Still Picture (Camera), Browser, Video
High-definition video5G
4G
3G
2G1G
Transmitting data
Received data
Received data
Transmitting data DecodingCoding 11 10 1010 10 10
(1) Use a large overall block length with randomly chosen groups in place of horizontal and vertical groups
(2) Achieve simple decoding by using groups of small size (low density)If there is an error in the received
data, the check symbols will not match the data.The fifth "1" is incorrect because the check symbols of groups 2 and 5 do not match its data.
A check symbol is attached to each of the vertical and horizontal groups. If the count of "1"s in a group is an even number, the check symbol is set to 0, and if an odd number, it is set to "1".
Create vertical and horizontal groups by separating the data into rows and columns
Correcting the errors and decoding restores the original data.
LDPC codes is a key technology that supports high speed, high capacity, high reliable, and low power data communication
Data processing and analysis of various types of sensor data
Fusion of various data in societyPhysical space
Cyberspace
Big-dataAnalyze Artificial
IntelligenceAI
Sensor information from the physical space is sent to cyberspace
Autonomous driving cars
AI recommendation
to humans
Automated robot operation
at factories
Based on analysis results, cyberspace feedbacks value added information to the physical space
Figure 4 Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Figure 3 LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
“ ”
The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Neanderthals are a species of archaic humans that once existed. They left Africa around 500,000 years ago and spread across Europe and the Middle East, but became extinct about 40,000 years ago. For this reason, it was long thought that Neanderthals were unrelated to modern humans. However, when Dr. Pääbo analyzed the DNA of excavated Neanderthal bones, he discovered that modern humans had in fact inherited Neanderthal DNA.
Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
The difficulty of studying ancient DNA is that DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time, therefore, it is difficult to obtain enough quantity required for proper analysis. In order to increase the small number of DNA fragments, Dr. Pääbo employed a newly developed DNA amplification method called the "Polymerase chain reaction" (PCR). There was, however, a limitation to this method. Modern DNA contaminated by airborne dust or human sweat could be mistakenly be amplified if the sequence was similar to ancient human DNA. Because the handling of ancient DNA requires great care, Dr. Pääbo devised new research methods, including a new method of DNA extraction and the use of a cleanroom.
In 1997, a portion of Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA was first sequenced, followed by the entire mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are a type of organelle that has DNA different from that of the nucleus.
Mitochondrial DNA is only 16,000 base pairs long and can easily be obtained in large quantities because a single cell alone contains several thousand of them. The sequence was able to be determined using the PCR method and the DNA analysis technology that was available at the time.
When the sequenced mitochondrial DNA was compared with that of modern humans, no commonalities were found, thus, proving the theory that Neanderthals were not the direct ancestors of modern humans as some had suggested.
Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Dr. Pääbo hypothesized that analysis of mitochondrial DNA alone was not enough to unravel the mysteries of modern human evolution. Beginning in the 2000s, a next-generation sequencer capable of simulta-neously sequencing large quantities of DNA became available. In 2010, it was used to sequence the entire Neanderthal nuclear DNA for the first time in the world. He analyzed large quantities of DNA fragments,
mapped them on a modern human reference sequence, and reconstructed the nuclear DNA sequence consisting of 3 billion base pairs.
The analysis of Neanderthal nuclear DNA showed that 1 to 4% of the total DNA of modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, had Neanderthal origins. It was thus proven that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, Dr. Pääbo sequenced the nuclear DNA from a bone fragment of an unknown group of hominins, excavated from the Denisova Cave in Russia, and named them "Denisovans".
Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
The fact that Neanderthal DNA is present in modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, illustrates a scenario of modern human migration in which "the ancestors of modern humans who left Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago and spread around the world".
In this manner, Dr. Pääbo's DNA analysis using ancient bones has revolutionized the paleoanthropological research of exploring "the origin of modern humans". His research methods and achievements have also significantly impacted all disciplines related to the study of modern human species, including anthropology, archeology, and history, thereby contributing tremendously to the advancement of these disciplines.
Dr. Pääbo, who has contributed significantly to the field of paleoan-thropology, is currently a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. There, he continues to lead many projects on ancient human genomes, expand the horizons of paleoanthropologi-cal genomic research, and nurture the next generation of researchers.
Achievement : Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropology through decoding ancient human genome sequences
Dr. Svante Pääbo (Sweden)Born: April 20, 1955 (Age: 64)Professor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
“Life Science” field
There exists a relation where the remainder of e×d divided by (p-1)×(q-1) is 1, so d cannot be computed without knowing the prime numbers p and q.
Prime numbers n and q are extremely large. Even a super computer running for 10 thousand years would not be able to compute the prime factorization of n.
Figure 1 The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Interbred
Neanderthals
Denisovans
Modern humans that came out of Africa
Spread to Europe and Asia
The Middle East
The common ancestor in Africa
Modern humans that were left in Africa
40,000 years ago
60,000 years ago
400,000 years ago
500,000 years ago
Became extinct
Became extinct
Figure 4 Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
Denisovan
The ancestors of modern humans who came out of Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago.
After interbreeding, their descendants spread throughout the world. Modern humans in East Asia and Australia also carry the Neanderthal DNA.
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, the 3 billion base pairs long nuclear DNA, is the equivalent to a collection of books. A large number of DNA fragments were analyzed and fitted together using next-generation sequencers to restore the reconstruct book collection.
Figure 3 Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Nucleus
Nuclear DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Simultaneous analysis and splicing of large amounts of DNA fragments.
Determining the approximately 3 billion nucleotide sequences of nuclear DNA
Next-generation sequencer
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, a mitochondrial DNA, composed of approximately 16,000 base pairs, is a single-page document. The various DNA fragments were amplified using PCR, analyzed and fitted together, and in 1997, the hyper-vari-able region of the mitochondrial DNA was sequenced.
Figure 2 Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
Mitochondria
Nucleus
PCR machine
Mitochondrial DNA, part of the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Amplification of the DNA fragments that need to be read
Determining mitochondrial DNA sequences by splicing sequences of DNA fragments
Achievement : Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
Prof. Robert G. Gallager (USA)Born: May 29, 1931 (Age: 88)Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Error correction schemes in digital information communication
To realize remote surgeries and autonomous driving, it is indispens-able to use low-latency error-free data transmission. In digital data transmission, however, errors may occur in both wired and wireless communications due to noises caused by problems in communication equipment or radio noise interference. Since most of these noises cannot be removed, it is necessary to devise a framework to detect and correct these errors.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to send duplicate data. If the data “01” is repeated three times and sent as “01 01 01”, even if an error occurs and becomes “11 01 01” at the receiving end, the correct data “01” can be recovered by the majority rule. The process of adding extra data in such circumstances is called “coding”, and the process of correcting errors and recovering the original data is called “decoding”.
Principle and features of LDPC codes
This approach is, however, very wasteful of data and not very reliable. A better approach, familiar to communication engineers in the 1950's, was to arrange a block of data into rows and columns. A parity check digit is added to each row and to each column, as illustrat-ed in Fig. 2. The parity check digit is 1 if the number of ones in that
“Electronics, Information, Communication” Field row or column is odd and is 0 otherwise. Then if an error occurs in transmission in a particular row and column, the check digit for that column and row would indicate the location of the error, and it could be corrected.
Much research in the 1950's was devoted to improving this approach, including the Hamming codes, the BCH codes, the RS codes, and LDPC codes. All these schemes replace the rows and columns of data above with an arbitrary collection of subsets of data. A parity check is then appended to each subset and errors are corrected according to the parity check digits which have the wrong parity after transmission.
In the LDPC codes invented by Prof. Gallager, the overall block of data was chosen to be very large, but each of the above subsets were chosen to be quite small, a choice made to simplify the implementation of error correction. He showed that these subsets could be kept at a fixed small size while increasing the length of the overall block so as to approach channel capacity with highly reliable transmission.
LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
LDPC codes were proposed by Prof. Gallager during the 1960s. However, because processing capability of computers were limited at that time, his ideas were neglected for the next 30 years.
From the 1990s, computer processing capability rapidly enhanced, and research into its practical implementation became active. In 1998, it was proven to be the most theoretically superior scheme, and its adoption into the large-capacity information communication systems advanced drastically.
Since the 2000s, LDPC codes have been rapidly adopted in digital com-munication systems and digital storage systems. These include digital TV satellite broadcasting, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, WiMAX high-speed data com-munication, and the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), as well as hard disks and solid-state drives. It has become an extremely important basic technology that supports our modern digital society.
Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Currently, there are no other practical codes that can outperform LDPC codes. As computer processing capability continues to rapidly improve in the future, the application of LDPC codes is expected to further expand in scope.
Super Smart Society (Society 5.0), which is envisioned to be the future of our society, will require the cyberspace and the real world to be highly integrated. LDPC codes are expected to contribute significantly to this goal by playing an essential and fundamental role in solving the various challenges of information communication, such as demands for higher speeds, capacity, and reliability, and lower power consumption.
Figure 1 Error correction schemes in digital information communication
10
10 11
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
Errors in digital data communication are inevitable due to noise
11
Errors can be detected and corrected by devising the transmitting data
10
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
10
Figure 2 A simple example of using parity checks to correct errors
The dramatic increase in wireless communication speed and the advancement of communication equipment
1001,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
Data bandwidth（kbps）
（Year）202020102000199019801960RS codes/BCH codes
Turbo codes
LDPC codesThe invention of LDPC
codes
10Voice
Packet communication
E-mail, Still Picture (Camera), Browser, Video
High-definition video5G
4G
3G
2G1G
Transmitting data
Received data
Received data
Transmitting data DecodingCoding 11 10 1010 10 10
(1) Use a large overall block length with randomly chosen groups in place of horizontal and vertical groups
(2) Achieve simple decoding by using groups of small size (low density)If there is an error in the received
data, the check symbols will not match the data.The fifth "1" is incorrect because the check symbols of groups 2 and 5 do not match its data.
A check symbol is attached to each of the vertical and horizontal groups. If the count of "1"s in a group is an even number, the check symbol is set to 0, and if an odd number, it is set to "1".
Create vertical and horizontal groups by separating the data into rows and columns
Correcting the errors and decoding restores the original data.
LDPC codes is a key technology that supports high speed, high capacity, high reliable, and low power data communication
Data processing and analysis of various types of sensor data
Fusion of various data in societyPhysical space
Cyberspace
Big-dataAnalyze Artificial
IntelligenceAI
Sensor information from the physical space is sent to cyberspace
Autonomous driving cars
AI recommendation
to humans
Automated robot operation
at factories
Based on analysis results, cyberspace feedbacks value added information to the physical space
Figure 4 Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Figure 3 LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
“ ”
The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Neanderthals are a species of archaic humans that once existed. They left Africa around 500,000 years ago and spread across Europe and the Middle East, but became extinct about 40,000 years ago. For this reason, it was long thought that Neanderthals were unrelated to modern humans. However, when Dr. Pääbo analyzed the DNA of excavated Neanderthal bones, he discovered that modern humans had in fact inherited Neanderthal DNA.
Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
The difficulty of studying ancient DNA is that DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time, therefore, it is difficult to obtain enough quantity required for proper analysis. In order to increase the small number of DNA fragments, Dr. Pääbo employed a newly developed DNA amplification method called the "Polymerase chain reaction" (PCR). There was, however, a limitation to this method. Modern DNA contaminated by airborne dust or human sweat could be mistakenly be amplified if the sequence was similar to ancient human DNA. Because the handling of ancient DNA requires great care, Dr. Pääbo devised new research methods, including a new method of DNA extraction and the use of a cleanroom.
In 1997, a portion of Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA was first sequenced, followed by the entire mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are a type of organelle that has DNA different from that of the nucleus.
Mitochondrial DNA is only 16,000 base pairs long and can easily be obtained in large quantities because a single cell alone contains several thousand of them. The sequence was able to be determined using the PCR method and the DNA analysis technology that was available at the time.
When the sequenced mitochondrial DNA was compared with that of modern humans, no commonalities were found, thus, proving the theory that Neanderthals were not the direct ancestors of modern humans as some had suggested.
Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Dr. Pääbo hypothesized that analysis of mitochondrial DNA alone was not enough to unravel the mysteries of modern human evolution. Beginning in the 2000s, a next-generation sequencer capable of simulta-neously sequencing large quantities of DNA became available. In 2010, it was used to sequence the entire Neanderthal nuclear DNA for the first time in the world. He analyzed large quantities of DNA fragments,
mapped them on a modern human reference sequence, and reconstructed the nuclear DNA sequence consisting of 3 billion base pairs.
The analysis of Neanderthal nuclear DNA showed that 1 to 4% of the total DNA of modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, had Neanderthal origins. It was thus proven that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, Dr. Pääbo sequenced the nuclear DNA from a bone fragment of an unknown group of hominins, excavated from the Denisova Cave in Russia, and named them "Denisovans".
Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
The fact that Neanderthal DNA is present in modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, illustrates a scenario of modern human migration in which "the ancestors of modern humans who left Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago and spread around the world".
In this manner, Dr. Pääbo's DNA analysis using ancient bones has revolutionized the paleoanthropological research of exploring "the origin of modern humans". His research methods and achievements have also significantly impacted all disciplines related to the study of modern human species, including anthropology, archeology, and history, thereby contributing tremendously to the advancement of these disciplines.
Dr. Pääbo, who has contributed significantly to the field of paleoan-thropology, is currently a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. There, he continues to lead many projects on ancient human genomes, expand the horizons of paleoanthropologi-cal genomic research, and nurture the next generation of researchers.
Achievement : Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropology through decoding ancient human genome sequences
Dr. Svante Pääbo (Sweden)Born: April 20, 1955 (Age: 64)Professor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
“Life Science” field
There exists a relation where the remainder of e×d divided by (p-1)×(q-1) is 1, so d cannot be computed without knowing the prime numbers p and q.
Prime numbers n and q are extremely large. Even a super computer running for 10 thousand years would not be able to compute the prime factorization of n.
Figure 1 The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Interbred
Neanderthals
Denisovans
Modern humans that came out of Africa
Spread to Europe and Asia
The Middle East
The common ancestor in Africa
Modern humans that were left in Africa
40,000 years ago
60,000 years ago
400,000 years ago
500,000 years ago
Became extinct
Became extinct
Figure 4 Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
Denisovan
The ancestors of modern humans who came out of Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago.
After interbreeding, their descendants spread throughout the world. Modern humans in East Asia and Australia also carry the Neanderthal DNA.
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, the 3 billion base pairs long nuclear DNA, is the equivalent to a collection of books. A large number of DNA fragments were analyzed and fitted together using next-generation sequencers to restore the reconstruct book collection.
Figure 3 Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Nucleus
Nuclear DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Simultaneous analysis and splicing of large amounts of DNA fragments.
Determining the approximately 3 billion nucleotide sequences of nuclear DNA
Next-generation sequencer
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, a mitochondrial DNA, composed of approximately 16,000 base pairs, is a single-page document. The various DNA fragments were amplified using PCR, analyzed and fitted together, and in 1997, the hyper-vari-able region of the mitochondrial DNA was sequenced.
Figure 2 Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
Mitochondria
Nucleus
PCR machine
Mitochondrial DNA, part of the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Amplification of the DNA fragments that need to be read
Determining mitochondrial DNA sequences by splicing sequences of DNA fragments
Achievement : Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
Prof. Robert G. Gallager (USA)Born: May 29, 1931 (Age: 88)Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Error correction schemes in digital information communication
To realize remote surgeries and autonomous driving, it is indispens-able to use low-latency error-free data transmission. In digital data transmission, however, errors may occur in both wired and wireless communications due to noises caused by problems in communication equipment or radio noise interference. Since most of these noises cannot be removed, it is necessary to devise a framework to detect and correct these errors.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to send duplicate data. If the data “01” is repeated three times and sent as “01 01 01”, even if an error occurs and becomes “11 01 01” at the receiving end, the correct data “01” can be recovered by the majority rule. The process of adding extra data in such circumstances is called “coding”, and the process of correcting errors and recovering the original data is called “decoding”.
Principle and features of LDPC codes
This approach is, however, very wasteful of data and not very reliable. A better approach, familiar to communication engineers in the 1950's, was to arrange a block of data into rows and columns. A parity check digit is added to each row and to each column, as illustrat-ed in Fig. 2. The parity check digit is 1 if the number of ones in that
“Electronics, Information, Communication” Field row or column is odd and is 0 otherwise. Then if an error occurs in transmission in a particular row and column, the check digit for that column and row would indicate the location of the error, and it could be corrected.
Much research in the 1950's was devoted to improving this approach, including the Hamming codes, the BCH codes, the RS codes, and LDPC codes. All these schemes replace the rows and columns of data above with an arbitrary collection of subsets of data. A parity check is then appended to each subset and errors are corrected according to the parity check digits which have the wrong parity after transmission.
In the LDPC codes invented by Prof. Gallager, the overall block of data was chosen to be very large, but each of the above subsets were chosen to be quite small, a choice made to simplify the implementation of error correction. He showed that these subsets could be kept at a fixed small size while increasing the length of the overall block so as to approach channel capacity with highly reliable transmission.
LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
LDPC codes were proposed by Prof. Gallager during the 1960s. However, because processing capability of computers were limited at that time, his ideas were neglected for the next 30 years.
From the 1990s, computer processing capability rapidly enhanced, and research into its practical implementation became active. In 1998, it was proven to be the most theoretically superior scheme, and its adoption into the large-capacity information communication systems advanced drastically.
Since the 2000s, LDPC codes have been rapidly adopted in digital com-munication systems and digital storage systems. These include digital TV satellite broadcasting, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, WiMAX high-speed data com-munication, and the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), as well as hard disks and solid-state drives. It has become an extremely important basic technology that supports our modern digital society.
Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Currently, there are no other practical codes that can outperform LDPC codes. As computer processing capability continues to rapidly improve in the future, the application of LDPC codes is expected to further expand in scope.
Super Smart Society (Society 5.0), which is envisioned to be the future of our society, will require the cyberspace and the real world to be highly integrated. LDPC codes are expected to contribute significantly to this goal by playing an essential and fundamental role in solving the various challenges of information communication, such as demands for higher speeds, capacity, and reliability, and lower power consumption.
Figure 1 Error correction schemes in digital information communication
10
10 11
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
Errors in digital data communication are inevitable due to noise
11
Errors can be detected and corrected by devising the transmitting data
10
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
10
Figure 2 A simple example of using parity checks to correct errors
The dramatic increase in wireless communication speed and the advancement of communication equipment
1001,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
Data bandwidth（kbps）
（Year）202020102000199019801960RS codes/BCH codes
Turbo codes
LDPC codesThe invention of LDPC
codes
10Voice
Packet communication
E-mail, Still Picture (Camera), Browser, Video
High-definition video5G
4G
3G
2G1G
Transmitting data
Received data
Received data
Transmitting data DecodingCoding 11 10 1010 10 10
(1) Use a large overall block length with randomly chosen groups in place of horizontal and vertical groups
(2) Achieve simple decoding by using groups of small size (low density)If there is an error in the received
data, the check symbols will not match the data.The fifth "1" is incorrect because the check symbols of groups 2 and 5 do not match its data.
A check symbol is attached to each of the vertical and horizontal groups. If the count of "1"s in a group is an even number, the check symbol is set to 0, and if an odd number, it is set to "1".
Create vertical and horizontal groups by separating the data into rows and columns
Correcting the errors and decoding restores the original data.
LDPC codes is a key technology that supports high speed, high capacity, high reliable, and low power data communication
Data processing and analysis of various types of sensor data
Fusion of various data in societyPhysical space
Cyberspace
Big-dataAnalyze Artificial
IntelligenceAI
Sensor information from the physical space is sent to cyberspace
Autonomous driving cars
AI recommendation
to humans
Automated robot operation
at factories
Based on analysis results, cyberspace feedbacks value added information to the physical space
Figure 4 Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Figure 3 LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
“ ”
The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Neanderthals are a species of archaic humans that once existed. They left Africa around 500,000 years ago and spread across Europe and the Middle East, but became extinct about 40,000 years ago. For this reason, it was long thought that Neanderthals were unrelated to modern humans. However, when Dr. Pääbo analyzed the DNA of excavated Neanderthal bones, he discovered that modern humans had in fact inherited Neanderthal DNA.
Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
The difficulty of studying ancient DNA is that DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time, therefore, it is difficult to obtain enough quantity required for proper analysis. In order to increase the small number of DNA fragments, Dr. Pääbo employed a newly developed DNA amplification method called the "Polymerase chain reaction" (PCR). There was, however, a limitation to this method. Modern DNA contaminated by airborne dust or human sweat could be mistakenly be amplified if the sequence was similar to ancient human DNA. Because the handling of ancient DNA requires great care, Dr. Pääbo devised new research methods, including a new method of DNA extraction and the use of a cleanroom.
In 1997, a portion of Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA was first sequenced, followed by the entire mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are a type of organelle that has DNA different from that of the nucleus.
Mitochondrial DNA is only 16,000 base pairs long and can easily be obtained in large quantities because a single cell alone contains several thousand of them. The sequence was able to be determined using the PCR method and the DNA analysis technology that was available at the time.
When the sequenced mitochondrial DNA was compared with that of modern humans, no commonalities were found, thus, proving the theory that Neanderthals were not the direct ancestors of modern humans as some had suggested.
Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Dr. Pääbo hypothesized that analysis of mitochondrial DNA alone was not enough to unravel the mysteries of modern human evolution. Beginning in the 2000s, a next-generation sequencer capable of simulta-neously sequencing large quantities of DNA became available. In 2010, it was used to sequence the entire Neanderthal nuclear DNA for the first time in the world. He analyzed large quantities of DNA fragments,
mapped them on a modern human reference sequence, and reconstructed the nuclear DNA sequence consisting of 3 billion base pairs.
The analysis of Neanderthal nuclear DNA showed that 1 to 4% of the total DNA of modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, had Neanderthal origins. It was thus proven that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, Dr. Pääbo sequenced the nuclear DNA from a bone fragment of an unknown group of hominins, excavated from the Denisova Cave in Russia, and named them "Denisovans".
Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
The fact that Neanderthal DNA is present in modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, illustrates a scenario of modern human migration in which "the ancestors of modern humans who left Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago and spread around the world".
In this manner, Dr. Pääbo's DNA analysis using ancient bones has revolutionized the paleoanthropological research of exploring "the origin of modern humans". His research methods and achievements have also significantly impacted all disciplines related to the study of modern human species, including anthropology, archeology, and history, thereby contributing tremendously to the advancement of these disciplines.
Dr. Pääbo, who has contributed significantly to the field of paleoan-thropology, is currently a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. There, he continues to lead many projects on ancient human genomes, expand the horizons of paleoanthropologi-cal genomic research, and nurture the next generation of researchers.
Achievement : Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropology through decoding ancient human genome sequences
Dr. Svante Pääbo (Sweden)Born: April 20, 1955 (Age: 64)Professor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
“Life Science” field
There exists a relation where the remainder of e×d divided by (p-1)×(q-1) is 1, so d cannot be computed without knowing the prime numbers p and q.
Prime numbers n and q are extremely large. Even a super computer running for 10 thousand years would not be able to compute the prime factorization of n.
Figure 1 The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Interbred
Neanderthals
Denisovans
Modern humans that came out of Africa
Spread to Europe and Asia
The Middle East
The common ancestor in Africa
Modern humans that were left in Africa
40,000 years ago
60,000 years ago
400,000 years ago
500,000 years ago
Became extinct
Became extinct
Figure 4 Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
Denisovan
The ancestors of modern humans who came out of Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago.
After interbreeding, their descendants spread throughout the world. Modern humans in East Asia and Australia also carry the Neanderthal DNA.
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, the 3 billion base pairs long nuclear DNA, is the equivalent to a collection of books. A large number of DNA fragments were analyzed and fitted together using next-generation sequencers to restore the reconstruct book collection.
Figure 3 Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Nucleus
Nuclear DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Simultaneous analysis and splicing of large amounts of DNA fragments.
Determining the approximately 3 billion nucleotide sequences of nuclear DNA
Next-generation sequencer
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, a mitochondrial DNA, composed of approximately 16,000 base pairs, is a single-page document. The various DNA fragments were amplified using PCR, analyzed and fitted together, and in 1997, the hyper-vari-able region of the mitochondrial DNA was sequenced.
Figure 2 Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
Mitochondria
Nucleus
PCR machine
Mitochondrial DNA, part of the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Amplification of the DNA fragments that need to be read
Determining mitochondrial DNA sequences by splicing sequences of DNA fragments
Achievement : Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
Prof. Robert G. Gallager (USA)Born: May 29, 1931 (Age: 88)Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Error correction schemes in digital information communication
To realize remote surgeries and autonomous driving, it is indispens-able to use low-latency error-free data transmission. In digital data transmission, however, errors may occur in both wired and wireless communications due to noises caused by problems in communication equipment or radio noise interference. Since most of these noises cannot be removed, it is necessary to devise a framework to detect and correct these errors.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to send duplicate data. If the data “01” is repeated three times and sent as “01 01 01”, even if an error occurs and becomes “11 01 01” at the receiving end, the correct data “01” can be recovered by the majority rule. The process of adding extra data in such circumstances is called “coding”, and the process of correcting errors and recovering the original data is called “decoding”.
Principle and features of LDPC codes
This approach is, however, very wasteful of data and not very reliable. A better approach, familiar to communication engineers in the 1950's, was to arrange a block of data into rows and columns. A parity check digit is added to each row and to each column, as illustrat-ed in Fig. 2. The parity check digit is 1 if the number of ones in that
“Electronics, Information, Communication” Field row or column is odd and is 0 otherwise. Then if an error occurs in transmission in a particular row and column, the check digit for that column and row would indicate the location of the error, and it could be corrected.
Much research in the 1950's was devoted to improving this approach, including the Hamming codes, the BCH codes, the RS codes, and LDPC codes. All these schemes replace the rows and columns of data above with an arbitrary collection of subsets of data. A parity check is then appended to each subset and errors are corrected according to the parity check digits which have the wrong parity after transmission.
In the LDPC codes invented by Prof. Gallager, the overall block of data was chosen to be very large, but each of the above subsets were chosen to be quite small, a choice made to simplify the implementation of error correction. He showed that these subsets could be kept at a fixed small size while increasing the length of the overall block so as to approach channel capacity with highly reliable transmission.
LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
LDPC codes were proposed by Prof. Gallager during the 1960s. However, because processing capability of computers were limited at that time, his ideas were neglected for the next 30 years.
From the 1990s, computer processing capability rapidly enhanced, and research into its practical implementation became active. In 1998, it was proven to be the most theoretically superior scheme, and its adoption into the large-capacity information communication systems advanced drastically.
Since the 2000s, LDPC codes have been rapidly adopted in digital com-munication systems and digital storage systems. These include digital TV satellite broadcasting, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, WiMAX high-speed data com-munication, and the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), as well as hard disks and solid-state drives. It has become an extremely important basic technology that supports our modern digital society.
Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Currently, there are no other practical codes that can outperform LDPC codes. As computer processing capability continues to rapidly improve in the future, the application of LDPC codes is expected to further expand in scope.
Super Smart Society (Society 5.0), which is envisioned to be the future of our society, will require the cyberspace and the real world to be highly integrated. LDPC codes are expected to contribute significantly to this goal by playing an essential and fundamental role in solving the various challenges of information communication, such as demands for higher speeds, capacity, and reliability, and lower power consumption.
Figure 1 Error correction schemes in digital information communication
10
10 11
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
Errors in digital data communication are inevitable due to noise
11
Errors can be detected and corrected by devising the transmitting data
10
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
10
Figure 2 A simple example of using parity checks to correct errors
The dramatic increase in wireless communication speed and the advancement of communication equipment
1001,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
Data bandwidth（kbps）
（Year）202020102000199019801960RS codes/BCH codes
Turbo codes
LDPC codesThe invention of LDPC
codes
10Voice
Packet communication
E-mail, Still Picture (Camera), Browser, Video
High-definition video5G
4G
3G
2G1G
Transmitting data
Received data
Received data
Transmitting data DecodingCoding 11 10 1010 10 10
(1) Use a large overall block length with randomly chosen groups in place of horizontal and vertical groups
(2) Achieve simple decoding by using groups of small size (low density)If there is an error in the received
data, the check symbols will not match the data.The fifth "1" is incorrect because the check symbols of groups 2 and 5 do not match its data.
A check symbol is attached to each of the vertical and horizontal groups. If the count of "1"s in a group is an even number, the check symbol is set to 0, and if an odd number, it is set to "1".
Create vertical and horizontal groups by separating the data into rows and columns
Correcting the errors and decoding restores the original data.
LDPC codes is a key technology that supports high speed, high capacity, high reliable, and low power data communication
Data processing and analysis of various types of sensor data
Fusion of various data in societyPhysical space
Cyberspace
Big-dataAnalyze Artificial
IntelligenceAI
Sensor information from the physical space is sent to cyberspace
Autonomous driving cars
AI recommendation
to humans
Automated robot operation
at factories
Based on analysis results, cyberspace feedbacks value added information to the physical space
Figure 4 Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Figure 3 LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
“ ”
The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Neanderthals are a species of archaic humans that once existed. They left Africa around 500,000 years ago and spread across Europe and the Middle East, but became extinct about 40,000 years ago. For this reason, it was long thought that Neanderthals were unrelated to modern humans. However, when Dr. Pääbo analyzed the DNA of excavated Neanderthal bones, he discovered that modern humans had in fact inherited Neanderthal DNA.
Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
The difficulty of studying ancient DNA is that DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time, therefore, it is difficult to obtain enough quantity required for proper analysis. In order to increase the small number of DNA fragments, Dr. Pääbo employed a newly developed DNA amplification method called the "Polymerase chain reaction" (PCR). There was, however, a limitation to this method. Modern DNA contaminated by airborne dust or human sweat could be mistakenly be amplified if the sequence was similar to ancient human DNA. Because the handling of ancient DNA requires great care, Dr. Pääbo devised new research methods, including a new method of DNA extraction and the use of a cleanroom.
In 1997, a portion of Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA was first sequenced, followed by the entire mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are a type of organelle that has DNA different from that of the nucleus.
Mitochondrial DNA is only 16,000 base pairs long and can easily be obtained in large quantities because a single cell alone contains several thousand of them. The sequence was able to be determined using the PCR method and the DNA analysis technology that was available at the time.
When the sequenced mitochondrial DNA was compared with that of modern humans, no commonalities were found, thus, proving the theory that Neanderthals were not the direct ancestors of modern humans as some had suggested.
Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Dr. Pääbo hypothesized that analysis of mitochondrial DNA alone was not enough to unravel the mysteries of modern human evolution. Beginning in the 2000s, a next-generation sequencer capable of simulta-neously sequencing large quantities of DNA became available. In 2010, it was used to sequence the entire Neanderthal nuclear DNA for the first time in the world. He analyzed large quantities of DNA fragments,
mapped them on a modern human reference sequence, and reconstructed the nuclear DNA sequence consisting of 3 billion base pairs.
The analysis of Neanderthal nuclear DNA showed that 1 to 4% of the total DNA of modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, had Neanderthal origins. It was thus proven that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, Dr. Pääbo sequenced the nuclear DNA from a bone fragment of an unknown group of hominins, excavated from the Denisova Cave in Russia, and named them "Denisovans".
Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
The fact that Neanderthal DNA is present in modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, illustrates a scenario of modern human migration in which "the ancestors of modern humans who left Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago and spread around the world".
In this manner, Dr. Pääbo's DNA analysis using ancient bones has revolutionized the paleoanthropological research of exploring "the origin of modern humans". His research methods and achievements have also significantly impacted all disciplines related to the study of modern human species, including anthropology, archeology, and history, thereby contributing tremendously to the advancement of these disciplines.
Dr. Pääbo, who has contributed significantly to the field of paleoan-thropology, is currently a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. There, he continues to lead many projects on ancient human genomes, expand the horizons of paleoanthropologi-cal genomic research, and nurture the next generation of researchers.
Achievement : Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropology through decoding ancient human genome sequences
Dr. Svante Pääbo (Sweden)Born: April 20, 1955 (Age: 64)Professor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
“Life Science” field
There exists a relation where the remainder of e×d divided by (p-1)×(q-1) is 1, so d cannot be computed without knowing the prime numbers p and q.
Prime numbers n and q are extremely large. Even a super computer running for 10 thousand years would not be able to compute the prime factorization of n.
Figure 1 The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Interbred
Neanderthals
Denisovans
Modern humans that came out of Africa
Spread to Europe and Asia
The Middle East
The common ancestor in Africa
Modern humans that were left in Africa
40,000 years ago
60,000 years ago
400,000 years ago
500,000 years ago
Became extinct
Became extinct
Figure 4 Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
Denisovan
The ancestors of modern humans who came out of Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago.
After interbreeding, their descendants spread throughout the world. Modern humans in East Asia and Australia also carry the Neanderthal DNA.
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, the 3 billion base pairs long nuclear DNA, is the equivalent to a collection of books. A large number of DNA fragments were analyzed and fitted together using next-generation sequencers to restore the reconstruct book collection.
Figure 3 Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Nucleus
Nuclear DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Simultaneous analysis and splicing of large amounts of DNA fragments.
Determining the approximately 3 billion nucleotide sequences of nuclear DNA
Next-generation sequencer
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, a mitochondrial DNA, composed of approximately 16,000 base pairs, is a single-page document. The various DNA fragments were amplified using PCR, analyzed and fitted together, and in 1997, the hyper-vari-able region of the mitochondrial DNA was sequenced.
Figure 2 Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
Mitochondria
Nucleus
PCR machine
Mitochondrial DNA, part of the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Amplification of the DNA fragments that need to be read
Determining mitochondrial DNA sequences by splicing sequences of DNA fragments
Achievement : Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
Prof. Robert G. Gallager (USA)Born: May 29, 1931 (Age: 88)Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Error correction schemes in digital information communication
To realize remote surgeries and autonomous driving, it is indispens-able to use low-latency error-free data transmission. In digital data transmission, however, errors may occur in both wired and wireless communications due to noises caused by problems in communication equipment or radio noise interference. Since most of these noises cannot be removed, it is necessary to devise a framework to detect and correct these errors.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to send duplicate data. If the data “01” is repeated three times and sent as “01 01 01”, even if an error occurs and becomes “11 01 01” at the receiving end, the correct data “01” can be recovered by the majority rule. The process of adding extra data in such circumstances is called “coding”, and the process of correcting errors and recovering the original data is called “decoding”.
Principle and features of LDPC codes
This approach is, however, very wasteful of data and not very reliable. A better approach, familiar to communication engineers in the 1950's, was to arrange a block of data into rows and columns. A parity check digit is added to each row and to each column, as illustrat-ed in Fig. 2. The parity check digit is 1 if the number of ones in that
“Electronics, Information, Communication” Field row or column is odd and is 0 otherwise. Then if an error occurs in transmission in a particular row and column, the check digit for that column and row would indicate the location of the error, and it could be corrected.
Much research in the 1950's was devoted to improving this approach, including the Hamming codes, the BCH codes, the RS codes, and LDPC codes. All these schemes replace the rows and columns of data above with an arbitrary collection of subsets of data. A parity check is then appended to each subset and errors are corrected according to the parity check digits which have the wrong parity after transmission.
In the LDPC codes invented by Prof. Gallager, the overall block of data was chosen to be very large, but each of the above subsets were chosen to be quite small, a choice made to simplify the implementation of error correction. He showed that these subsets could be kept at a fixed small size while increasing the length of the overall block so as to approach channel capacity with highly reliable transmission.
LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
LDPC codes were proposed by Prof. Gallager during the 1960s. However, because processing capability of computers were limited at that time, his ideas were neglected for the next 30 years.
From the 1990s, computer processing capability rapidly enhanced, and research into its practical implementation became active. In 1998, it was proven to be the most theoretically superior scheme, and its adoption into the large-capacity information communication systems advanced drastically.
Since the 2000s, LDPC codes have been rapidly adopted in digital com-munication systems and digital storage systems. These include digital TV satellite broadcasting, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, WiMAX high-speed data com-munication, and the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), as well as hard disks and solid-state drives. It has become an extremely important basic technology that supports our modern digital society.
Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Currently, there are no other practical codes that can outperform LDPC codes. As computer processing capability continues to rapidly improve in the future, the application of LDPC codes is expected to further expand in scope.
Super Smart Society (Society 5.0), which is envisioned to be the future of our society, will require the cyberspace and the real world to be highly integrated. LDPC codes are expected to contribute significantly to this goal by playing an essential and fundamental role in solving the various challenges of information communication, such as demands for higher speeds, capacity, and reliability, and lower power consumption.
Figure 1 Error correction schemes in digital information communication
10
10 11
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
Errors in digital data communication are inevitable due to noise
11
Errors can be detected and corrected by devising the transmitting data
10
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
10
Figure 2 A simple example of using parity checks to correct errors
The dramatic increase in wireless communication speed and the advancement of communication equipment
1001,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
Data bandwidth（kbps）
（Year）202020102000199019801960RS codes/BCH codes
Turbo codes
LDPC codesThe invention of LDPC
codes
10Voice
Packet communication
E-mail, Still Picture (Camera), Browser, Video
High-definition video5G
4G
3G
2G1G
Transmitting data
Received data
Received data
Transmitting data DecodingCoding 11 10 1010 10 10
(1) Use a large overall block length with randomly chosen groups in place of horizontal and vertical groups
(2) Achieve simple decoding by using groups of small size (low density)If there is an error in the received
data, the check symbols will not match the data.The fifth "1" is incorrect because the check symbols of groups 2 and 5 do not match its data.
A check symbol is attached to each of the vertical and horizontal groups. If the count of "1"s in a group is an even number, the check symbol is set to 0, and if an odd number, it is set to "1".
Create vertical and horizontal groups by separating the data into rows and columns
Correcting the errors and decoding restores the original data.
LDPC codes is a key technology that supports high speed, high capacity, high reliable, and low power data communication
Data processing and analysis of various types of sensor data
Fusion of various data in societyPhysical space
Cyberspace
Big-dataAnalyze Artificial
IntelligenceAI
Sensor information from the physical space is sent to cyberspace
Autonomous driving cars
AI recommendation
to humans
Automated robot operation
at factories
Based on analysis results, cyberspace feedbacks value added information to the physical space
Figure 4 Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Figure 3 LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
“ ”
The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Neanderthals are a species of archaic humans that once existed. They left Africa around 500,000 years ago and spread across Europe and the Middle East, but became extinct about 40,000 years ago. For this reason, it was long thought that Neanderthals were unrelated to modern humans. However, when Dr. Pääbo analyzed the DNA of excavated Neanderthal bones, he discovered that modern humans had in fact inherited Neanderthal DNA.
Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
The difficulty of studying ancient DNA is that DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time, therefore, it is difficult to obtain enough quantity required for proper analysis. In order to increase the small number of DNA fragments, Dr. Pääbo employed a newly developed DNA amplification method called the "Polymerase chain reaction" (PCR). There was, however, a limitation to this method. Modern DNA contaminated by airborne dust or human sweat could be mistakenly be amplified if the sequence was similar to ancient human DNA. Because the handling of ancient DNA requires great care, Dr. Pääbo devised new research methods, including a new method of DNA extraction and the use of a cleanroom.
In 1997, a portion of Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA was first sequenced, followed by the entire mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are a type of organelle that has DNA different from that of the nucleus.
Mitochondrial DNA is only 16,000 base pairs long and can easily be obtained in large quantities because a single cell alone contains several thousand of them. The sequence was able to be determined using the PCR method and the DNA analysis technology that was available at the time.
When the sequenced mitochondrial DNA was compared with that of modern humans, no commonalities were found, thus, proving the theory that Neanderthals were not the direct ancestors of modern humans as some had suggested.
Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Dr. Pääbo hypothesized that analysis of mitochondrial DNA alone was not enough to unravel the mysteries of modern human evolution. Beginning in the 2000s, a next-generation sequencer capable of simulta-neously sequencing large quantities of DNA became available. In 2010, it was used to sequence the entire Neanderthal nuclear DNA for the first time in the world. He analyzed large quantities of DNA fragments,
mapped them on a modern human reference sequence, and reconstructed the nuclear DNA sequence consisting of 3 billion base pairs.
The analysis of Neanderthal nuclear DNA showed that 1 to 4% of the total DNA of modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, had Neanderthal origins. It was thus proven that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, Dr. Pääbo sequenced the nuclear DNA from a bone fragment of an unknown group of hominins, excavated from the Denisova Cave in Russia, and named them "Denisovans".
Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
The fact that Neanderthal DNA is present in modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, illustrates a scenario of modern human migration in which "the ancestors of modern humans who left Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago and spread around the world".
In this manner, Dr. Pääbo's DNA analysis using ancient bones has revolutionized the paleoanthropological research of exploring "the origin of modern humans". His research methods and achievements have also significantly impacted all disciplines related to the study of modern human species, including anthropology, archeology, and history, thereby contributing tremendously to the advancement of these disciplines.
Dr. Pääbo, who has contributed significantly to the field of paleoan-thropology, is currently a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. There, he continues to lead many projects on ancient human genomes, expand the horizons of paleoanthropologi-cal genomic research, and nurture the next generation of researchers.
Achievement : Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropology through decoding ancient human genome sequences
Dr. Svante Pääbo (Sweden)Born: April 20, 1955 (Age: 64)Professor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
“Life Science” field
There exists a relation where the remainder of e×d divided by (p-1)×(q-1) is 1, so d cannot be computed without knowing the prime numbers p and q.
Prime numbers n and q are extremely large. Even a super computer running for 10 thousand years would not be able to compute the prime factorization of n.
Figure 1 The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Interbred
Neanderthals
Denisovans
Modern humans that came out of Africa
Spread to Europe and Asia
The Middle East
The common ancestor in Africa
Modern humans that were left in Africa
40,000 years ago
60,000 years ago
400,000 years ago
500,000 years ago
Became extinct
Became extinct
Figure 4 Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
Denisovan
The ancestors of modern humans who came out of Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago.
After interbreeding, their descendants spread throughout the world. Modern humans in East Asia and Australia also carry the Neanderthal DNA.
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, the 3 billion base pairs long nuclear DNA, is the equivalent to a collection of books. A large number of DNA fragments were analyzed and fitted together using next-generation sequencers to restore the reconstruct book collection.
Figure 3 Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Nucleus
Nuclear DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Simultaneous analysis and splicing of large amounts of DNA fragments.
Determining the approximately 3 billion nucleotide sequences of nuclear DNA
Next-generation sequencer
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, a mitochondrial DNA, composed of approximately 16,000 base pairs, is a single-page document. The various DNA fragments were amplified using PCR, analyzed and fitted together, and in 1997, the hyper-vari-able region of the mitochondrial DNA was sequenced.
Figure 2 Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
Mitochondria
Nucleus
PCR machine
Mitochondrial DNA, part of the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Amplification of the DNA fragments that need to be read
Determining mitochondrial DNA sequences by splicing sequences of DNA fragments
Achievement : Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
Prof. Robert G. Gallager (USA)Born: May 29, 1931 (Age: 88)Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Error correction schemes in digital information communication
To realize remote surgeries and autonomous driving, it is indispens-able to use low-latency error-free data transmission. In digital data transmission, however, errors may occur in both wired and wireless communications due to noises caused by problems in communication equipment or radio noise interference. Since most of these noises cannot be removed, it is necessary to devise a framework to detect and correct these errors.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to send duplicate data. If the data “01” is repeated three times and sent as “01 01 01”, even if an error occurs and becomes “11 01 01” at the receiving end, the correct data “01” can be recovered by the majority rule. The process of adding extra data in such circumstances is called “coding”, and the process of correcting errors and recovering the original data is called “decoding”.
Principle and features of LDPC codes
This approach is, however, very wasteful of data and not very reliable. A better approach, familiar to communication engineers in the 1950's, was to arrange a block of data into rows and columns. A parity check digit is added to each row and to each column, as illustrat-ed in Fig. 2. The parity check digit is 1 if the number of ones in that
“Electronics, Information, Communication” Field row or column is odd and is 0 otherwise. Then if an error occurs in transmission in a particular row and column, the check digit for that column and row would indicate the location of the error, and it could be corrected.
Much research in the 1950's was devoted to improving this approach, including the Hamming codes, the BCH codes, the RS codes, and LDPC codes. All these schemes replace the rows and columns of data above with an arbitrary collection of subsets of data. A parity check is then appended to each subset and errors are corrected according to the parity check digits which have the wrong parity after transmission.
In the LDPC codes invented by Prof. Gallager, the overall block of data was chosen to be very large, but each of the above subsets were chosen to be quite small, a choice made to simplify the implementation of error correction. He showed that these subsets could be kept at a fixed small size while increasing the length of the overall block so as to approach channel capacity with highly reliable transmission.
LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
LDPC codes were proposed by Prof. Gallager during the 1960s. However, because processing capability of computers were limited at that time, his ideas were neglected for the next 30 years.
From the 1990s, computer processing capability rapidly enhanced, and research into its practical implementation became active. In 1998, it was proven to be the most theoretically superior scheme, and its adoption into the large-capacity information communication systems advanced drastically.
Since the 2000s, LDPC codes have been rapidly adopted in digital com-munication systems and digital storage systems. These include digital TV satellite broadcasting, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, WiMAX high-speed data com-munication, and the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), as well as hard disks and solid-state drives. It has become an extremely important basic technology that supports our modern digital society.
Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Currently, there are no other practical codes that can outperform LDPC codes. As computer processing capability continues to rapidly improve in the future, the application of LDPC codes is expected to further expand in scope.
Super Smart Society (Society 5.0), which is envisioned to be the future of our society, will require the cyberspace and the real world to be highly integrated. LDPC codes are expected to contribute significantly to this goal by playing an essential and fundamental role in solving the various challenges of information communication, such as demands for higher speeds, capacity, and reliability, and lower power consumption.
Figure 1 Error correction schemes in digital information communication
10
10 11
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
Errors in digital data communication are inevitable due to noise
11
Errors can be detected and corrected by devising the transmitting data
10
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
10
Figure 2 A simple example of using parity checks to correct errors
The dramatic increase in wireless communication speed and the advancement of communication equipment
1001,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
Data bandwidth（kbps）
（Year）202020102000199019801960RS codes/BCH codes
Turbo codes
LDPC codesThe invention of LDPC
codes
10Voice
Packet communication
E-mail, Still Picture (Camera), Browser, Video
High-definition video5G
4G
3G
2G1G
Transmitting data
Received data
Received data
Transmitting data DecodingCoding 11 10 1010 10 10
(1) Use a large overall block length with randomly chosen groups in place of horizontal and vertical groups
(2) Achieve simple decoding by using groups of small size (low density)If there is an error in the received
data, the check symbols will not match the data.The fifth "1" is incorrect because the check symbols of groups 2 and 5 do not match its data.
A check symbol is attached to each of the vertical and horizontal groups. If the count of "1"s in a group is an even number, the check symbol is set to 0, and if an odd number, it is set to "1".
Create vertical and horizontal groups by separating the data into rows and columns
Correcting the errors and decoding restores the original data.
LDPC codes is a key technology that supports high speed, high capacity, high reliable, and low power data communication
Data processing and analysis of various types of sensor data
Fusion of various data in societyPhysical space
Cyberspace
Big-dataAnalyze Artificial
IntelligenceAI
Sensor information from the physical space is sent to cyberspace
Autonomous driving cars
AI recommendation
to humans
Automated robot operation
at factories
Based on analysis results, cyberspace feedbacks value added information to the physical space
Figure 4 Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Figure 3 LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
“ ”
The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Neanderthals are a species of archaic humans that once existed. They left Africa around 500,000 years ago and spread across Europe and the Middle East, but became extinct about 40,000 years ago. For this reason, it was long thought that Neanderthals were unrelated to modern humans. However, when Dr. Pääbo analyzed the DNA of excavated Neanderthal bones, he discovered that modern humans had in fact inherited Neanderthal DNA.
Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
The difficulty of studying ancient DNA is that DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time, therefore, it is difficult to obtain enough quantity required for proper analysis. In order to increase the small number of DNA fragments, Dr. Pääbo employed a newly developed DNA amplification method called the "Polymerase chain reaction" (PCR). There was, however, a limitation to this method. Modern DNA contaminated by airborne dust or human sweat could be mistakenly be amplified if the sequence was similar to ancient human DNA. Because the handling of ancient DNA requires great care, Dr. Pääbo devised new research methods, including a new method of DNA extraction and the use of a cleanroom.
In 1997, a portion of Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA was first sequenced, followed by the entire mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are a type of organelle that has DNA different from that of the nucleus.
Mitochondrial DNA is only 16,000 base pairs long and can easily be obtained in large quantities because a single cell alone contains several thousand of them. The sequence was able to be determined using the PCR method and the DNA analysis technology that was available at the time.
When the sequenced mitochondrial DNA was compared with that of modern humans, no commonalities were found, thus, proving the theory that Neanderthals were not the direct ancestors of modern humans as some had suggested.
Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Dr. Pääbo hypothesized that analysis of mitochondrial DNA alone was not enough to unravel the mysteries of modern human evolution. Beginning in the 2000s, a next-generation sequencer capable of simulta-neously sequencing large quantities of DNA became available. In 2010, it was used to sequence the entire Neanderthal nuclear DNA for the first time in the world. He analyzed large quantities of DNA fragments,
mapped them on a modern human reference sequence, and reconstructed the nuclear DNA sequence consisting of 3 billion base pairs.
The analysis of Neanderthal nuclear DNA showed that 1 to 4% of the total DNA of modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, had Neanderthal origins. It was thus proven that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, Dr. Pääbo sequenced the nuclear DNA from a bone fragment of an unknown group of hominins, excavated from the Denisova Cave in Russia, and named them "Denisovans".
Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
The fact that Neanderthal DNA is present in modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, illustrates a scenario of modern human migration in which "the ancestors of modern humans who left Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago and spread around the world".
In this manner, Dr. Pääbo's DNA analysis using ancient bones has revolutionized the paleoanthropological research of exploring "the origin of modern humans". His research methods and achievements have also significantly impacted all disciplines related to the study of modern human species, including anthropology, archeology, and history, thereby contributing tremendously to the advancement of these disciplines.
Dr. Pääbo, who has contributed significantly to the field of paleoan-thropology, is currently a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. There, he continues to lead many projects on ancient human genomes, expand the horizons of paleoanthropologi-cal genomic research, and nurture the next generation of researchers.
Achievement : Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropology through decoding ancient human genome sequences
Dr. Svante Pääbo (Sweden)Born: April 20, 1955 (Age: 64)Professor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
“Life Science” field
There exists a relation where the remainder of e×d divided by (p-1)×(q-1) is 1, so d cannot be computed without knowing the prime numbers p and q.
Prime numbers n and q are extremely large. Even a super computer running for 10 thousand years would not be able to compute the prime factorization of n.
Figure 1 The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Interbred
Neanderthals
Denisovans
Modern humans that came out of Africa
Spread to Europe and Asia
The Middle East
The common ancestor in Africa
Modern humans that were left in Africa
40,000 years ago
60,000 years ago
400,000 years ago
500,000 years ago
Became extinct
Became extinct
Figure 4 Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
Denisovan
The ancestors of modern humans who came out of Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago.
After interbreeding, their descendants spread throughout the world. Modern humans in East Asia and Australia also carry the Neanderthal DNA.
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, the 3 billion base pairs long nuclear DNA, is the equivalent to a collection of books. A large number of DNA fragments were analyzed and fitted together using next-generation sequencers to restore the reconstruct book collection.
Figure 3 Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Nucleus
Nuclear DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Simultaneous analysis and splicing of large amounts of DNA fragments.
Determining the approximately 3 billion nucleotide sequences of nuclear DNA
Next-generation sequencer
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, a mitochondrial DNA, composed of approximately 16,000 base pairs, is a single-page document. The various DNA fragments were amplified using PCR, analyzed and fitted together, and in 1997, the hyper-vari-able region of the mitochondrial DNA was sequenced.
Figure 2 Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
Mitochondria
Nucleus
PCR machine
Mitochondrial DNA, part of the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Amplification of the DNA fragments that need to be read
Determining mitochondrial DNA sequences by splicing sequences of DNA fragments
Achievement : Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
Prof. Robert G. Gallager (USA)Born: May 29, 1931 (Age: 88)Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Error correction schemes in digital information communication
To realize remote surgeries and autonomous driving, it is indispens-able to use low-latency error-free data transmission. In digital data transmission, however, errors may occur in both wired and wireless communications due to noises caused by problems in communication equipment or radio noise interference. Since most of these noises cannot be removed, it is necessary to devise a framework to detect and correct these errors.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to send duplicate data. If the data “01” is repeated three times and sent as “01 01 01”, even if an error occurs and becomes “11 01 01” at the receiving end, the correct data “01” can be recovered by the majority rule. The process of adding extra data in such circumstances is called “coding”, and the process of correcting errors and recovering the original data is called “decoding”.
Principle and features of LDPC codes
This approach is, however, very wasteful of data and not very reliable. A better approach, familiar to communication engineers in the 1950's, was to arrange a block of data into rows and columns. A parity check digit is added to each row and to each column, as illustrat-ed in Fig. 2. The parity check digit is 1 if the number of ones in that
“Electronics, Information, Communication” Field row or column is odd and is 0 otherwise. Then if an error occurs in transmission in a particular row and column, the check digit for that column and row would indicate the location of the error, and it could be corrected.
Much research in the 1950's was devoted to improving this approach, including the Hamming codes, the BCH codes, the RS codes, and LDPC codes. All these schemes replace the rows and columns of data above with an arbitrary collection of subsets of data. A parity check is then appended to each subset and errors are corrected according to the parity check digits which have the wrong parity after transmission.
In the LDPC codes invented by Prof. Gallager, the overall block of data was chosen to be very large, but each of the above subsets were chosen to be quite small, a choice made to simplify the implementation of error correction. He showed that these subsets could be kept at a fixed small size while increasing the length of the overall block so as to approach channel capacity with highly reliable transmission.
LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
LDPC codes were proposed by Prof. Gallager during the 1960s. However, because processing capability of computers were limited at that time, his ideas were neglected for the next 30 years.
From the 1990s, computer processing capability rapidly enhanced, and research into its practical implementation became active. In 1998, it was proven to be the most theoretically superior scheme, and its adoption into the large-capacity information communication systems advanced drastically.
Since the 2000s, LDPC codes have been rapidly adopted in digital com-munication systems and digital storage systems. These include digital TV satellite broadcasting, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, WiMAX high-speed data com-munication, and the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), as well as hard disks and solid-state drives. It has become an extremely important basic technology that supports our modern digital society.
Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Currently, there are no other practical codes that can outperform LDPC codes. As computer processing capability continues to rapidly improve in the future, the application of LDPC codes is expected to further expand in scope.
Super Smart Society (Society 5.0), which is envisioned to be the future of our society, will require the cyberspace and the real world to be highly integrated. LDPC codes are expected to contribute significantly to this goal by playing an essential and fundamental role in solving the various challenges of information communication, such as demands for higher speeds, capacity, and reliability, and lower power consumption.
Figure 1 Error correction schemes in digital information communication
10
10 11
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
Errors in digital data communication are inevitable due to noise
11
Errors can be detected and corrected by devising the transmitting data
10
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
10
Figure 2 A simple example of using parity checks to correct errors
The dramatic increase in wireless communication speed and the advancement of communication equipment
1001,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
Data bandwidth（kbps）
（Year）202020102000199019801960RS codes/BCH codes
Turbo codes
LDPC codesThe invention of LDPC
codes
10Voice
Packet communication
E-mail, Still Picture (Camera), Browser, Video
High-definition video5G
4G
3G
2G1G
Transmitting data
Received data
Received data
Transmitting data DecodingCoding 11 10 1010 10 10
(1) Use a large overall block length with randomly chosen groups in place of horizontal and vertical groups
(2) Achieve simple decoding by using groups of small size (low density)If there is an error in the received
data, the check symbols will not match the data.The fifth "1" is incorrect because the check symbols of groups 2 and 5 do not match its data.
A check symbol is attached to each of the vertical and horizontal groups. If the count of "1"s in a group is an even number, the check symbol is set to 0, and if an odd number, it is set to "1".
Create vertical and horizontal groups by separating the data into rows and columns
Correcting the errors and decoding restores the original data.
LDPC codes is a key technology that supports high speed, high capacity, high reliable, and low power data communication
Data processing and analysis of various types of sensor data
Fusion of various data in societyPhysical space
Cyberspace
Big-dataAnalyze Artificial
IntelligenceAI
Sensor information from the physical space is sent to cyberspace
Autonomous driving cars
AI recommendation
to humans
Automated robot operation
at factories
Based on analysis results, cyberspace feedbacks value added information to the physical space
Figure 4 Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Figure 3 LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
“ ”
2020 Japan Prize Laureates Announced
Eligible Fields for the 2021 Japan PrizeNomination and Selection Process
Members of the 2020 Japan Prize Selection Committee
Makoto Asashima Research Professor, Academic Advisor, Teikyo UniversityAcademic Advisor, Japan Society for the Promotion of ScienceProfessor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo
Selection Subcommittee for the “Life Science” field
Selection Subcommittee for the “Electronics, Information, Communication” field
■ Every November, the Field Selection Committee of The Japan Prize Foundation designates and announces two fields in which the Japan Prize will be awarded two years hence. At the same time, the Foundation calls for over 16,000 nominators, strictly comprised of prominent scientists and researchers from around the world invited by the Foundation, to nominate the candidates through the web by Web System. The deadline for nominations is the end of January of the following year.
■ For each field, a Selection Subcommittee conducts a rigorous evaluation of the candidates’ academic achievements. The conclusions are then forwarded to the Selection Committee, which conducts evaluations of candidates’ achievements from a wider perspective, including contributions to the progress of science and technology, and significant advancement towards the cause of world peace and prosperity, and finally the selected candidates are recommended for the Prize.
■ The recommendations are then sent to the Foundation’s Board of Directors, which makes the final decision on the winners.
■ The nomination and selection process takes almost two years from the time that the fields are decided. Every January or February, the winners of that year’s Japan Prize are announced. The Presentation Ceremony is held in April in Tokyo.
The eligible fields for the Japan Prize (2021 to 2023) have been decided for the two research areas, respectively.These fields rotate every year in a three year cycle.Every year the Fields Selection Committee announces the eligible fields for the next three years.
Resources, Energy, Environment, Social Infrastructure
Background and Rationale: The field of medical science and medicinal science has been undergoing remarkable progress in recent years. Genomic medicine, regenerative medicine
and medical robotics have been making rapid progress. Also, revolutionary medicines such as cancer immunotherapy drugs and antiviral agents are being developed one after another.
Nonetheless, the need for new measures against emerging infectious diseases and diseases associated with aging and changes in lifestyle, as well as the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens and cancers, have all come to the fore as major global issues.
Today's medical science and medicinal science are expected to contribute even more to people’ s health and well-being. This is being sought through the creation and dissemination of new medical care that integrates other disciplines such as engineering and informatics, the development and production of new drugs, and new drug delivery systems.
The 2020Japan PrizePresentationCeremony
Announcethe Laureatesof the 2020Japan Prize
November End January, 2019 November February, 2020 April
Selection Subcommitteefor Life Science
Selection Subcommitteefor Electronics, Information, Communication
Board ofDirectors
Determinethe fields eligiblefor the 2020Japan Prize
Yoshinao MishimaProfessor Emeritus and Former PresidentTokyo Institute of Technology
Yasuo OkabeProfessorAcademic Center for Computing and Media StudiesKyoto University
Yoshiharu IshikawaProfessorGraduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University Shigeaki Zaima
ProfessorGraduate School of Science and TechnologyMeijo University
Michihiko MinohExecutive DirectorRIKEN
Junken AokiProfessorGraduate School of Pharmaceutical SciencesTohoku University
Tomoko M. NakanishiPresident, Hoshi UniversityProfessor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life SciencesThe University of TokyoCommissioner, Japan Atomic Energy Commission
Sumio OhtsukiProfessorFaculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University
Hiroo FukudaExecutive Vice PresidentThe University of Tokyo
Akinori KimuraExecutive Senior Vice PresidentTokyo Medical and Dental University
Atsuko SeharaProfessor EmeritusKyoto University
Masahide TakahashiTrustee and Vice PresidentNagoya University
Toichi TakenakaChairmanJapan Health Sciences Foundation
Yasushi OkamuraProfessorGraduate School of MedicineOsaka University
Shigeo OkabeProfessorGraduate School of MedicineThe University of Tokyo
Yoshinori FujiyoshiDistinguished ProfessorTMDU Advanced Research InstituteTokyo Medical and Dental University
Yoshihiro HayashiPresident/Director GeneralNational Museum of Nature and Science
Hiroto Ishida DirectorThe Japan Prize Foundation
Kazunori KataokaProfessor, The University of TokyoVice President, Kawasaki Institute of Industrial PromotionDirector-General, Innovation Center of NanoMedicine
Yoichiro MatsumotoPresidentTokyo University of Science
Background and Rationale: Today's lifestyle is supported by various infrastructure, created from the systematization of technologies. The dissemination and advancement of
infrastructure technologies that support our society are crucial for realizing the goal of "eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions", which has been defined by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the "greatest global challenge".
Meanwhile, the effects of climate change are becoming more apparent, and there is a growing awareness that not only mitigation measures, but also adaptation measures are required. Amid mounting concerns of greater disasters in the future, the creation of a resilient society is also an urgent issue.
Thus, we are in serious need of further innovation in such areas as development and recycling technologies for resources including urban mines, water usage/treatment systems, energy management, the prediction of environmental changes and its countermeasures, as well as in social infrastructure technologies relevant to urban and transportation systems.
Eligible Achievements :The 2021 Japan Prize in the field of "Medical Science, Medicinal Science" is awarded to an individual(s) who has achieved scientific and technological
breakthroughs, such as new discoveries or the development of innovative technologies on the "prevention", "diagnosis", "treatment" or "prognosis" of diseases, thereby contributing towards the health and well-being of humankind.
Michiharu NakamuraCounselor to the President, Japan Science and Technology AgencyDirector, The Japan Prize Foundation
Kazuhito HashimotoPresidentNational Institute for Materials Science
Kohei MiyazonoProfessorDepartment of Molecular PathologyGraduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo
Yozo FujinoDistinguished ProfessorInstitute of Advanced SciencesYokohama National University
Mariko HasegawaPresidentSOKENDAI(The Graduate University for Advanced Studies)
Masaru KitsuregawaDirector General, National Institute of InformaticsProfessor, Institute of Industrial ScienceThe University of Tokyo
Eiichi NakamuraEndowed ProfessorOffice of the President and Department of Chemistry The University of Tokyo
Masayuki YamamotoProfessor Emeritus, The University of TokyoProfessor Emeritus, National Institute for Basic Biology
Kazuo KyumaPresidentNational Agriculture and Food Research Organization
Ken FuruyaProfessor, Graduate School of EngineeringSoka UniversityProfessor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo
Yuichi SugiyamaHeadSugiyama Laboratory, RIKEN Baton Zone Program
Fields Selection Committee for the 2021 Japan Prize
Schedule (2021-2023)
Selection Committee
Closing of the nominations
Invite thenominations
Considerthe fields eligiblefor the 2020Japan Prize
Electronics, Information, Communication
Life Science
Eligible Achievements:The 2021 Japan Prize in the field of "Resources, Energy, Environment, Social Infrastructure" is awarded to an individual(s) who has achieved
breakthroughs in the creation, innovation or dissemination of science and technology, thereby contributing significantly to the sustainable development of human society.
Shojiro NishioPresidentOsaka University
Masayuki MatsushitaDirectorThe Japan Prize Foundation
Tadatsugu TaniguchiProfessor Emeritus, Advisor to the Office of PresidentThe University of Tokyo
Naonori UedaDeputy DirectorRIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project
Hiroki ArimuraProfessorGraduate School of Information Science and TechnologyHokkaido University
Hiroyuki MorikawaProfessorGraduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
Makoto AndoSenior Executive DirectorNational Institute of Technology
Takao OnoyeExecutive Vice PresidentOsaka University
Michiko InoueProfessorGraduate School of Science and TechnologyNara Institute of Science and Technology
(alphabetical order, titles as of November, 2019)
(alphabetical order, titles as of February, 2020)
Medical Science, Medicinal Science
Area of Physics, Chemistry, Informatics, Engineering
Year Eligible Fields
Area of Life Science, Agriculture, Medicine
Medical Science, Medicinal ScienceBiological Production, Ecology/ EnvironmentLife Science
202120222023
202120222023
Year Eligible Fields
Area of Physics, Chemistry,
Informatics, Engineering
Area ofLife Science, Agriculture,
Medicine
Members Chairman
Vice Chairman
Shojiro NishioPresidentOsaka University
Yoshinori FujiyoshiDistinguished ProfessorTMDU Advanced Research InstituteTokyo Medical and Dental University
Shigeo KoyasuExecutive DirectorRIKEN
Hiroto YasuuraExecutive Vice PresidentKyushu University
Chairman
Deputy Chairman
Chairman
Deputy Chairman
Members
Members
Members Chairman
Vice Chairman
Resources, Energy, Environment, Social InfrastructureMaterials, ProductionElectronics, Information, Communication
July - October, 2018
Prof. Robert G. Gallager Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
USA
No. 63 Feb. 2020ARK Mori Building, East Wing 35th Floor, 1-12-32Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-6035, JAPANTel: +81-3-5545-0551 Fax: +81-3-5545-0554www.japanprize.jp
contributions to our lives. The award covers all fields of science and technology and takes into consideration the developments in science and technology. Every year, the foundation designates two fields for the award presentation. One award is given for each field as a general rule. Each laureate receives a certificate of merit and a prize medal. A cash prize of 50 million yen is also presented to each prize category.
The creation of the Japan Prize was motivated by the Japanese government's desire to "express gratitude to international society by establishing a prestigious international award in the fields of science and technology". Supported by numerous donations, the Japan Prize was established in 1983 with a cabinet endorsement. The Japan Prize honors those who have made significant achievements that contribute to the peace and prosperity of mankind, based not only on contributions to the advancement of science and technology but also on social
Dr. Svante PääboProfessor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Sweden
From general communication devices such as TVs, personal computers and mobile phones to cutting-edge researches utilizing big-data, such as particle physics and astronomy, digital information communication is one of the fundamental technologies that support today's society. However, when performing data communication, errors can occur due to external noise, and for many years, a lot of research was conducted on developing detection and correction schemes for such errors. Among them, LDPC codes (Low-Density Parity-Check Codes), invented by Prof. Robert G. Gallager, is an extremely reliable and practical scheme. Starting with its adoption in the fifth-generation mobile communication system (5G), LDPC codes are expected to support the coming generations of high-speed and large-capacity communications.
Where did we humans come from? Elucidating “the origin and evolution of modern humans” is one of the biggest challenges in paleoanthropology. Traditionally, the evolution and classification of humans had been approached by analyzing the shape of excavated bone and teeth fossils. However, from the mid-1980s, Dr. Svante Pääbo adopted the “genetic approach” , which involves extracting and analyzing DNA, and made series of discoveries that have enabled us to understand modern human evolution at much greater depth. In particular, the DNA analysis of Neanderthals revealed that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, the DNA from a fossilized bone fragment excavated from the Denisova cave in Russia revealed the existence of a previously unknown species of humans called the Denisovans. By analyzing the DNA of ancient humans, Dr. Pääbo has shed new light on the fundamental question of where modern humans came from.
Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropologythrough decoding ancient human genome sequences
Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Neanderthals are a species of archaic humans that once existed. They left Africa around 500,000 years ago and spread across Europe and the Middle East, but became extinct about 40,000 years ago. For this reason, it was long thought that Neanderthals were unrelated to modern humans. However, when Dr. Pääbo analyzed the DNA of excavated Neanderthal bones, he discovered that modern humans had in fact inherited Neanderthal DNA.
Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
The difficulty of studying ancient DNA is that DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time, therefore, it is difficult to obtain enough quantity required for proper analysis. In order to increase the small number of DNA fragments, Dr. Pääbo employed a newly developed DNA amplification method called the "Polymerase chain reaction" (PCR). There was, however, a limitation to this method. Modern DNA contaminated by airborne dust or human sweat could be mistakenly be amplified if the sequence was similar to ancient human DNA. Because the handling of ancient DNA requires great care, Dr. Pääbo devised new research methods, including a new method of DNA extraction and the use of a cleanroom.
In 1997, a portion of Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA was first sequenced, followed by the entire mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondria are a type of organelle that has DNA different from that of the nucleus.
Mitochondrial DNA is only 16,000 base pairs long and can easily be obtained in large quantities because a single cell alone contains several thousand of them. The sequence was able to be determined using the PCR method and the DNA analysis technology that was available at the time.
When the sequenced mitochondrial DNA was compared with that of modern humans, no commonalities were found, thus, proving the theory that Neanderthals were not the direct ancestors of modern humans as some had suggested.
Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Dr. Pääbo hypothesized that analysis of mitochondrial DNA alone was not enough to unravel the mysteries of modern human evolution. Beginning in the 2000s, a next-generation sequencer capable of simulta-neously sequencing large quantities of DNA became available. In 2010, it was used to sequence the entire Neanderthal nuclear DNA for the first time in the world. He analyzed large quantities of DNA fragments,
mapped them on a modern human reference sequence, and reconstructed the nuclear DNA sequence consisting of 3 billion base pairs.
The analysis of Neanderthal nuclear DNA showed that 1 to 4% of the total DNA of modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, had Neanderthal origins. It was thus proven that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, Dr. Pääbo sequenced the nuclear DNA from a bone fragment of an unknown group of hominins, excavated from the Denisova Cave in Russia, and named them "Denisovans".
Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
The fact that Neanderthal DNA is present in modern humans, excluding the people of Africa, illustrates a scenario of modern human migration in which "the ancestors of modern humans who left Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago and spread around the world".
In this manner, Dr. Pääbo's DNA analysis using ancient bones has revolutionized the paleoanthropological research of exploring "the origin of modern humans". His research methods and achievements have also significantly impacted all disciplines related to the study of modern human species, including anthropology, archeology, and history, thereby contributing tremendously to the advancement of these disciplines.
Dr. Pääbo, who has contributed significantly to the field of paleoan-thropology, is currently a professor at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. There, he continues to lead many projects on ancient human genomes, expand the horizons of paleoanthropologi-cal genomic research, and nurture the next generation of researchers.
Achievement : Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropology through decoding ancient human genome sequences
Dr. Svante Pääbo (Sweden)Born: April 20, 1955 (Age: 64)Professor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
“Life Science” field
There exists a relation where the remainder of e×d divided by (p-1)×(q-1) is 1, so d cannot be computed without knowing the prime numbers p and q.
Prime numbers n and q are extremely large. Even a super computer running for 10 thousand years would not be able to compute the prime factorization of n.
Figure 1 The ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals
Interbred
Neanderthals
Denisovans
Modern humans that came out of Africa
Spread to Europe and Asia
The Middle East
The common ancestor in Africa
Modern humans that were left in Africa
40,000 years ago
60,000 years ago
400,000 years ago
500,000 years ago
Became extinct
Became extinct
Figure 4 Significant contributions to paleoanthropology
Denisovan
The ancestors of modern humans who came out of Africa between 60,000 to 70,000 years ago are thought to have interbred with Neanderthals who already inhabited the Middle East around 60,000 years ago.
After interbreeding, their descendants spread throughout the world. Modern humans in East Asia and Australia also carry the Neanderthal DNA.
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, the 3 billion base pairs long nuclear DNA, is the equivalent to a collection of books. A large number of DNA fragments were analyzed and fitted together using next-generation sequencers to restore the reconstruct book collection.
Figure 3 Achievements (2): Analysis of nuclear DNA (2010)
Nucleus
Nuclear DNA, the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Simultaneous analysis and splicing of large amounts of DNA fragments.
Determining the approximately 3 billion nucleotide sequences of nuclear DNA
Next-generation sequencer
Ancient DNA fragments are like pieces of a torn-up document. By the same analogy, a mitochondrial DNA, composed of approximately 16,000 base pairs, is a single-page document. The various DNA fragments were amplified using PCR, analyzed and fitted together, and in 1997, the hyper-vari-able region of the mitochondrial DNA was sequenced.
Figure 2 Achievements (1): Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (1997)
Mitochondria
Nucleus
PCR machine
Mitochondrial DNA, part of the blueprint of life, breaks down and becomes fragmented over time.
Amplification of the DNA fragments that need to be read
Determining mitochondrial DNA sequences by splicing sequences of DNA fragments
Achievement : Pioneering contribution to information and coding theory
Prof. Robert G. Gallager (USA)Born: May 29, 1931 (Age: 88)Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Error correction schemes in digital information communication
To realize remote surgeries and autonomous driving, it is indispens-able to use low-latency error-free data transmission. In digital data transmission, however, errors may occur in both wired and wireless communications due to noises caused by problems in communication equipment or radio noise interference. Since most of these noises cannot be removed, it is necessary to devise a framework to detect and correct these errors.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to send duplicate data. If the data “01” is repeated three times and sent as “01 01 01”, even if an error occurs and becomes “11 01 01” at the receiving end, the correct data “01” can be recovered by the majority rule. The process of adding extra data in such circumstances is called “coding”, and the process of correcting errors and recovering the original data is called “decoding”.
Principle and features of LDPC codes
This approach is, however, very wasteful of data and not very reliable. A better approach, familiar to communication engineers in the 1950's, was to arrange a block of data into rows and columns. A parity check digit is added to each row and to each column, as illustrat-ed in Fig. 2. The parity check digit is 1 if the number of ones in that
“Electronics, Information, Communication” Field row or column is odd and is 0 otherwise. Then if an error occurs in transmission in a particular row and column, the check digit for that column and row would indicate the location of the error, and it could be corrected.
Much research in the 1950's was devoted to improving this approach, including the Hamming codes, the BCH codes, the RS codes, and LDPC codes. All these schemes replace the rows and columns of data above with an arbitrary collection of subsets of data. A parity check is then appended to each subset and errors are corrected according to the parity check digits which have the wrong parity after transmission.
In the LDPC codes invented by Prof. Gallager, the overall block of data was chosen to be very large, but each of the above subsets were chosen to be quite small, a choice made to simplify the implementation of error correction. He showed that these subsets could be kept at a fixed small size while increasing the length of the overall block so as to approach channel capacity with highly reliable transmission.
LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
LDPC codes were proposed by Prof. Gallager during the 1960s. However, because processing capability of computers were limited at that time, his ideas were neglected for the next 30 years.
From the 1990s, computer processing capability rapidly enhanced, and research into its practical implementation became active. In 1998, it was proven to be the most theoretically superior scheme, and its adoption into the large-capacity information communication systems advanced drastically.
Since the 2000s, LDPC codes have been rapidly adopted in digital com-munication systems and digital storage systems. These include digital TV satellite broadcasting, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, WiMAX high-speed data com-munication, and the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), as well as hard disks and solid-state drives. It has become an extremely important basic technology that supports our modern digital society.
Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Currently, there are no other practical codes that can outperform LDPC codes. As computer processing capability continues to rapidly improve in the future, the application of LDPC codes is expected to further expand in scope.
Super Smart Society (Society 5.0), which is envisioned to be the future of our society, will require the cyberspace and the real world to be highly integrated. LDPC codes are expected to contribute significantly to this goal by playing an essential and fundamental role in solving the various challenges of information communication, such as demands for higher speeds, capacity, and reliability, and lower power consumption.
Figure 1 Error correction schemes in digital information communication
10
10 11
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
Errors in digital data communication are inevitable due to noise
11
Errors can be detected and corrected by devising the transmitting data
10
Noise
Communication channel
(Wireless/Wired)
10
Figure 2 A simple example of using parity checks to correct errors
The dramatic increase in wireless communication speed and the advancement of communication equipment
1001,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
Data bandwidth（kbps）
（Year）202020102000199019801960RS codes/BCH codes
Turbo codes
LDPC codesThe invention of LDPC
codes
10Voice
Packet communication
E-mail, Still Picture (Camera), Browser, Video
High-definition video5G
4G
3G
2G1G
Transmitting data
Received data
Received data
Transmitting data DecodingCoding 11 10 1010 10 10
(1) Use a large overall block length with randomly chosen groups in place of horizontal and vertical groups
(2) Achieve simple decoding by using groups of small size (low density)If there is an error in the received
data, the check symbols will not match the data.The fifth "1" is incorrect because the check symbols of groups 2 and 5 do not match its data.
A check symbol is attached to each of the vertical and horizontal groups. If the count of "1"s in a group is an even number, the check symbol is set to 0, and if an odd number, it is set to "1".
Create vertical and horizontal groups by separating the data into rows and columns
Correcting the errors and decoding restores the original data.
LDPC codes is a key technology that supports high speed, high capacity, high reliable, and low power data communication
Data processing and analysis of various types of sensor data
Fusion of various data in societyPhysical space
Cyberspace
Big-dataAnalyze Artificial
IntelligenceAI
Sensor information from the physical space is sent to cyberspace
Autonomous driving cars
AI recommendation
to humans
Automated robot operation
at factories
Based on analysis results, cyberspace feedbacks value added information to the physical space
Figure 4 Technologies that contribute to the realization of a Super Smart Society (Society 5.0)
Figure 3 LDPC codes became mainstream after 2000
“ ”
2020 Japan Prize Laureates Announced
Eligible Fields for the 2021 Japan PrizeNomination and Selection Process
Members of the 2020 Japan Prize Selection Committee
Makoto Asashima Research Professor, Academic Advisor, Teikyo UniversityAcademic Advisor, Japan Society for the Promotion of ScienceProfessor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo
Selection Subcommittee for the “Life Science” field
Selection Subcommittee for the “Electronics, Information, Communication” field
■ Every November, the Field Selection Committee of The Japan Prize Foundation designates and announces two fields in which the Japan Prize will be awarded two years hence. At the same time, the Foundation calls for over 16,000 nominators, strictly comprised of prominent scientists and researchers from around the world invited by the Foundation, to nominate the candidates through the web by Web System. The deadline for nominations is the end of January of the following year.
■ For each field, a Selection Subcommittee conducts a rigorous evaluation of the candidates’ academic achievements. The conclusions are then forwarded to the Selection Committee, which conducts evaluations of candidates’ achievements from a wider perspective, including contributions to the progress of science and technology, and significant advancement towards the cause of world peace and prosperity, and finally the selected candidates are recommended for the Prize.
■ The recommendations are then sent to the Foundation’s Board of Directors, which makes the final decision on the winners.
■ The nomination and selection process takes almost two years from the time that the fields are decided. Every January or February, the winners of that year’s Japan Prize are announced. The Presentation Ceremony is held in April in Tokyo.
The eligible fields for the Japan Prize (2021 to 2023) have been decided for the two research areas, respectively.These fields rotate every year in a three year cycle.Every year the Fields Selection Committee announces the eligible fields for the next three years.
Resources, Energy, Environment, Social Infrastructure
Background and Rationale: The field of medical science and medicinal science has been undergoing remarkable progress in recent years. Genomic medicine, regenerative medicine
and medical robotics have been making rapid progress. Also, revolutionary medicines such as cancer immunotherapy drugs and antiviral agents are being developed one after another.
Nonetheless, the need for new measures against emerging infectious diseases and diseases associated with aging and changes in lifestyle, as well as the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens and cancers, have all come to the fore as major global issues.
Today's medical science and medicinal science are expected to contribute even more to people’ s health and well-being. This is being sought through the creation and dissemination of new medical care that integrates other disciplines such as engineering and informatics, the development and production of new drugs, and new drug delivery systems.
The 2020Japan PrizePresentationCeremony
Announcethe Laureatesof the 2020Japan Prize
November End January, 2019 November February, 2020 April
Selection Subcommitteefor Life Science
Selection Subcommitteefor Electronics, Information, Communication
Board ofDirectors
Determinethe fields eligiblefor the 2020Japan Prize
Yoshinao MishimaProfessor Emeritus and Former PresidentTokyo Institute of Technology
Yasuo OkabeProfessorAcademic Center for Computing and Media StudiesKyoto University
Yoshiharu IshikawaProfessorGraduate School of Informatics, Nagoya University Shigeaki Zaima
ProfessorGraduate School of Science and TechnologyMeijo University
Michihiko MinohExecutive DirectorRIKEN
Junken AokiProfessorGraduate School of Pharmaceutical SciencesTohoku University
Tomoko M. NakanishiPresident, Hoshi UniversityProfessor, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life SciencesThe University of TokyoCommissioner, Japan Atomic Energy Commission
Sumio OhtsukiProfessorFaculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University
Hiroo FukudaExecutive Vice PresidentThe University of Tokyo
Akinori KimuraExecutive Senior Vice PresidentTokyo Medical and Dental University
Atsuko SeharaProfessor EmeritusKyoto University
Masahide TakahashiTrustee and Vice PresidentNagoya University
Toichi TakenakaChairmanJapan Health Sciences Foundation
Yasushi OkamuraProfessorGraduate School of MedicineOsaka University
Shigeo OkabeProfessorGraduate School of MedicineThe University of Tokyo
Yoshinori FujiyoshiDistinguished ProfessorTMDU Advanced Research InstituteTokyo Medical and Dental University
Yoshihiro HayashiPresident/Director GeneralNational Museum of Nature and Science
Hiroto Ishida DirectorThe Japan Prize Foundation
Kazunori KataokaProfessor, The University of TokyoVice President, Kawasaki Institute of Industrial PromotionDirector-General, Innovation Center of NanoMedicine
Yoichiro MatsumotoPresidentTokyo University of Science
Background and Rationale: Today's lifestyle is supported by various infrastructure, created from the systematization of technologies. The dissemination and advancement of
infrastructure technologies that support our society are crucial for realizing the goal of "eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions", which has been defined by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the "greatest global challenge".
Meanwhile, the effects of climate change are becoming more apparent, and there is a growing awareness that not only mitigation measures, but also adaptation measures are required. Amid mounting concerns of greater disasters in the future, the creation of a resilient society is also an urgent issue.
Thus, we are in serious need of further innovation in such areas as development and recycling technologies for resources including urban mines, water usage/treatment systems, energy management, the prediction of environmental changes and its countermeasures, as well as in social infrastructure technologies relevant to urban and transportation systems.
Eligible Achievements :The 2021 Japan Prize in the field of "Medical Science, Medicinal Science" is awarded to an individual(s) who has achieved scientific and technological
breakthroughs, such as new discoveries or the development of innovative technologies on the "prevention", "diagnosis", "treatment" or "prognosis" of diseases, thereby contributing towards the health and well-being of humankind.
Michiharu NakamuraCounselor to the President, Japan Science and Technology AgencyDirector, The Japan Prize Foundation
Kazuhito HashimotoPresidentNational Institute for Materials Science
Kohei MiyazonoProfessorDepartment of Molecular PathologyGraduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo
Yozo FujinoDistinguished ProfessorInstitute of Advanced SciencesYokohama National University
Mariko HasegawaPresidentSOKENDAI(The Graduate University for Advanced Studies)
Masaru KitsuregawaDirector General, National Institute of InformaticsProfessor, Institute of Industrial ScienceThe University of Tokyo
Eiichi NakamuraEndowed ProfessorOffice of the President and Department of Chemistry The University of Tokyo
Masayuki YamamotoProfessor Emeritus, The University of TokyoProfessor Emeritus, National Institute for Basic Biology
Kazuo KyumaPresidentNational Agriculture and Food Research Organization
Ken FuruyaProfessor, Graduate School of EngineeringSoka UniversityProfessor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo
Yuichi SugiyamaHeadSugiyama Laboratory, RIKEN Baton Zone Program
Fields Selection Committee for the 2021 Japan Prize
Schedule (2021-2023)
Selection Committee
Closing of the nominations
Invite thenominations
Considerthe fields eligiblefor the 2020Japan Prize
Electronics, Information, Communication
Life Science
Eligible Achievements:The 2021 Japan Prize in the field of "Resources, Energy, Environment, Social Infrastructure" is awarded to an individual(s) who has achieved
breakthroughs in the creation, innovation or dissemination of science and technology, thereby contributing significantly to the sustainable development of human society.
Shojiro NishioPresidentOsaka University
Masayuki MatsushitaDirectorThe Japan Prize Foundation
Tadatsugu TaniguchiProfessor Emeritus, Advisor to the Office of PresidentThe University of Tokyo
Naonori UedaDeputy DirectorRIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project
Hiroki ArimuraProfessorGraduate School of Information Science and TechnologyHokkaido University
Hiroyuki MorikawaProfessorGraduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
Makoto AndoSenior Executive DirectorNational Institute of Technology
Takao OnoyeExecutive Vice PresidentOsaka University
Michiko InoueProfessorGraduate School of Science and TechnologyNara Institute of Science and Technology
(alphabetical order, titles as of November, 2019)
(alphabetical order, titles as of February, 2020)
Medical Science, Medicinal Science
Area of Physics, Chemistry, Informatics, Engineering
Year Eligible Fields
Area of Life Science, Agriculture, Medicine
Medical Science, Medicinal ScienceBiological Production, Ecology/ EnvironmentLife Science
202120222023
202120222023
Year Eligible Fields
Area of Physics, Chemistry,
Informatics, Engineering
Area ofLife Science, Agriculture,
Medicine
Members Chairman
Vice Chairman
Shojiro NishioPresidentOsaka University
Yoshinori FujiyoshiDistinguished ProfessorTMDU Advanced Research InstituteTokyo Medical and Dental University
Shigeo KoyasuExecutive DirectorRIKEN
Hiroto YasuuraExecutive Vice PresidentKyushu University
Chairman
Deputy Chairman
Chairman
Deputy Chairman
Members
Members
Members Chairman
Vice Chairman
Resources, Energy, Environment, Social InfrastructureMaterials, ProductionElectronics, Information, Communication
July - October, 2018
Prof. Robert G. Gallager Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
USA
No. 63 Feb. 2020ARK Mori Building, East Wing 35th Floor, 1-12-32Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-6035, JAPANTel: +81-3-5545-0551 Fax: +81-3-5545-0554www.japanprize.jp
contributions to our lives. The award covers all fields of science and technology and takes into consideration the developments in science and technology. Every year, the foundation designates two fields for the award presentation. One award is given for each field as a general rule. Each laureate receives a certificate of merit and a prize medal. A cash prize of 50 million yen is also presented to each prize category.
The creation of the Japan Prize was motivated by the Japanese government's desire to "express gratitude to international society by establishing a prestigious international award in the fields of science and technology". Supported by numerous donations, the Japan Prize was established in 1983 with a cabinet endorsement. The Japan Prize honors those who have made significant achievements that contribute to the peace and prosperity of mankind, based not only on contributions to the advancement of science and technology but also on social
Dr. Svante PääboProfessor, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Sweden
From general communication devices such as TVs, personal computers and mobile phones to cutting-edge researches utilizing big-data, such as particle physics and astronomy, digital information communication is one of the fundamental technologies that support today's society. However, when performing data communication, errors can occur due to external noise, and for many years, a lot of research was conducted on developing detection and correction schemes for such errors. Among them, LDPC codes (Low-Density Parity-Check Codes), invented by Prof. Robert G. Gallager, is an extremely reliable and practical scheme. Starting with its adoption in the fifth-generation mobile communication system (5G), LDPC codes are expected to support the coming generations of high-speed and large-capacity communications.
Where did we humans come from? Elucidating “the origin and evolution of modern humans” is one of the biggest challenges in paleoanthropology. Traditionally, the evolution and classification of humans had been approached by analyzing the shape of excavated bone and teeth fossils. However, from the mid-1980s, Dr. Svante Pääbo adopted the “genetic approach” , which involves extracting and analyzing DNA, and made series of discoveries that have enabled us to understand modern human evolution at much greater depth. In particular, the DNA analysis of Neanderthals revealed that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with Neanderthals. Furthermore, the DNA from a fossilized bone fragment excavated from the Denisova cave in Russia revealed the existence of a previously unknown species of humans called the Denisovans. By analyzing the DNA of ancient humans, Dr. Pääbo has shed new light on the fundamental question of where modern humans came from.
Pioneering contributions to paleoanthropologythrough decoding ancient human genome sequences
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